Europe open: Markets mixed as investors mull central bank action
European stocks were mixed on Friday morning as investors mulled a week packed with central bank action, while comments from the President of the European Commission boosted Brexit optimism.
At 0856 BST, the Stoxx 600 was 0.1% higher at 392.33 as Germany's Dax fell by 0.1% to 12,446.48 and the French CAC 40 was down 0.1% at 5,655.94. Meanwhile, London's FTSE 100 dropped by 0.3% to 7,337.01, weighed down by a stronger pound.
A busy week for central banks saw the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points to between 1.75% and 2%, while central banks in Switzerland, Japan and the UK opted to hold rates steady.
Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China cut its benchmark one-year lending rate for a second month in a row as it attempted to stimulate the economy by controlling borrowing costs.
Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets, said: "The lack of more aggressive action by all of these major players does appear to give the impression that all are operating at the limits of their ability to ease further, and in so doing mitigate any further economic weakness."
Sterling was 0.33% firmer against the US dollar at 1.2567 after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said late on Thursday that it was still possible for the UK to agree a Brexit deal before 31 October, adding that he was not "emotionally attached" to the Irish backstop.
However, Craig Erlam, market analyst at Oanda, said a deal remained unlikely without an extension and suggested that EU officials were making a conscious effort to sound positive to avoid blame for a potential no-deal outcome.
"For now, traders are optimistic that no-deal is possibly less likely than it was, thanks to the bill passed in the British Parliament. The Supreme Court ruling may not make much of a difference, should they rule against Johnson's prorogation, but we should learn more today."
Among individual stocks, shares in Casino climbed after the French supermarket retailer confirmed it is in talks with Aldi about the potential sale of its Leader Price chain.
Dutch oil and chemical storage specialist Koninklijke Vopak made gains after analysts at Jefferies upped their rating on the stock from 'hold' to 'buy'.
Investec led the Stoxx 600 fallers as it warned headline earnings per share were expected to be 15%-18% lower year-on-year, with pre-tax profits taking a £42m hit due to Brexit concerns, trade wars and a company restructure.
Signify was also lower after news broke that Koninklijke Philips NV will sell its remaining 10.7% stake in the company for around €357m.