European Markets Finished Little Changed Ahead Of Fed Minutes

(RTTNews) - The majority of the European markets ended Wednesday's session with small losses, but little changed overall. The markets were stuck in a sideways trend throughout the session. Investors were in a cautious mood ahead of the release of the minutes from the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve. The minutes may shed some additional light on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the next meeting in mid-June.

Automakers turned in a weak performance Wednesday after Fiat Chrysler was hit with a U.S. government lawsuit and Daimler's offices were reportedly raided in connection with a probe into diesel emissions.

Mining stocks were under pressure after Moody's Investors Services downgraded China's long-term local and foreign currency issuer ratings, saying its debt levels are likely to increase further in the years ahead.

The unwarranted side-effects from the unconventional monetary policy have so far remained limited and hence, there was no need to change the policy path currently being projected, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Wednesday.

"When we introduced unconventional policy instruments in order to secure a return of inflation towards our objective, we were aware that those new instruments could result in somewhat more pronounced side effects than conventional instruments," Draghi said in a speech in Madrid. "These side effects have remained contained."

Draghi noted that asset purchases are inevitably more difficult to calibrate in the euro area that is composed of several national financial markets. They are more complex to implement, and more likely to produce side-effects than other instruments, including moderately negative rates, he added.

"Negative rates may also have unwarranted side-effects, but those have so far remained limited," Draghi said.

"Our current assessment of the side effects suggest therefore that there is no reason to deviate from the indications we have been consistently providing in the introductory statement to our press conferences."

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.04 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip stocks decreased 0.24 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.02 percent.

The DAX of Germany dropped 0.13 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 0.13 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.40 percent, but the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.29 percent.

In Frankfurt, Daimler tumbled 1.91 percent on reports that its offices have been raided in connection with a diesel-emissions probe.

In Paris, Safran reduced its offer to purchase Zodiac Aerospace by 15 percent after Zodiac issued a profit warning. The stocks were halted throughout the session.

In London, Kingfisher plunged 6.43 percent after the home improvement retailer reported weak sales in its first quarter on a constant currency and like-for-like basis amid continued weaker sales in France.

Telecom major Vodafone Group rose 0.36 percent as it announced an agreement to combine mobile operator Vodafone Malta Ltd. and Malta-based cable, broadband and pay TV provider Melita.

Retailer Marks and Spencer climbed 1.47 percent despite reporting a 64 percent drop in annual profits following a costly business overhaul.

Glencore confirmed earlier reports that its agriculture unit has made an informal approach to U.S. grains trader Bunge. The stock fell 0.09 percent.

Fiat Chrysler lost 0.58 percent in Milan. The U.S. government filed a suit against the carmaker, accusing it of using illegal software to fake emission results on its diesel vehicles.

A measure of future economic activity in Eurozone increased further in April, survey figures from the Conference Board showed Tuesday.

The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index, or LEI, for the euro area climbed 0.7 percent monthly in April, following a 0.6 percent rise each in February and March.

Germany's consumer confidence is set to continue its rising trend in June on the back of further improvement in expectations on income and economy, results of a survey by the GfK market research group showed Wednesday, defying expectations for stability.

The forward-looking Consumer Confidence Index rose to 10.4 points from 10.2 points in May, the Nuremberg-based GfK said. Economists had expected the measure to remain unchanged.

Existing home sales in the U.S. pulled back by more than anticipated in the month of April, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday.

NAR said existing home sales fell by 2.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.57 million in April after jumping by 4.2 percent to a ten-year high of 5.70 million in March. Economists had expected sales to drop to a rate of 5.65 million.