European stocks mixed to lower ahead of E.Z. data; Dax up 0.06%

European stocks were mixed to lower on Wednesday, ahead of euro zone data as disappointing German and French economic growth reports sparked fresh concerns over the financial situation in the single currency bloc. 

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 slipped 0.18%, France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.15%, while Germany’s DAX 30 eased up 0.06%. 

Preliminary data showed that Germany's gross domestic product rose less-than-expected in the first quarter, adding 0.1% after a 0.7% decline in the previous quarter. Analysts had expected the GDP to rise 0.3% in the first quarter. 

Year-on-year, Germany's GDP contracted by 1.7%, disappointing expectations for a 0.2% a rise, after an increase of 0.1% in the fourth quarter. 

A separate report showed that France's GDP declined 0.2% in the last quarter, compared to expectations for a 0.1% fall, after a 0.2% decline in the fourth quarter. 

Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas declined 0.57% and 0.93%, while Germany's Commerzbank dove 16.59% after saying it plans to issue new shares at a more than 50% discount. 

Peripheral lenders added to losses, with Spanish bank BBVA tumbling 1.95%, while Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit slid 0.14% and 0.34% respectively. 

On the upside, ThyssenKrupp surged 4.04% after the German steelmaker reported second-quarter earnings of EUR241 million, beating analysts' estimates. The company also posted a first-half net loss of EUR621 million after a writedown of its Americas unit. 

In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 eased 0.09%, weighed by losses in mining stocks. 

Shares in mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto dropped 0.55% and 1.10%, while Anglo American slipped 0.10%. 

Financial stocks were also on the downside, as Lloyds Banking edged 0.10% lower and Barclays fell 0.11%, while HSBC Holdings and the Royal Bank of Scotland declined 0.32% and 0.45%. 

HSBC Holdings earlier said it will eliminate as many as 14,000 jobs as Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver set out plans to cut an additional USD3 billion of costs. 

Elsewhere, Severn Trent plummeted 1.25% after rejecting an offer from Kuwait’s sovereign-wealth fund and a Canadian infrastructure investor that valued it at almost GBP5 billion. 

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.01% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.08% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.02% rise. 

Later in the day, the euro zone was to release preliminary data on first quarter GDP, while the U.S. was to publish data on producer price inflation, industrial production, the capacity utilization rate and a report on manufacturing activity in New York State.