European markets steady ahead of finance ministers meeting

European shares were steady on Wednesday ahead of euro zone ministers meetings to discuss Greece’s debt crisis and Athens’ benchmark stock index fell nearly 4 per cent.

National Bank of Greece dropped 10 per cent, Bank of Piraeus 6.2 per cent and Alpha Bank 6.3 per cent, while the leading ATG index fell 3.8 per cent.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares, whose only three Greek stocks are those banks, rose 0.03 per cent to 1,488.84 points.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has comfortably won a confidence vote on cancelling a bailout programme and euro zone finance ministers meet to discuss how to proceed with financial support for the country. EU leaders meet to discuss the issue on Thursday.

On the earnings front, shares in ING Group rose 2.5 per cent after the Dutch bank said it will resume paying a dividend in 2015, the first time in seven years. Norsk Hydro surged 3.8 per cent after the aluminium producer posted a six-fold jump in underlying operating profit and announced a bigger-than-expected dividend.

Life sciences company DSM gained 4.7 per cent after saying it expects 2015 earnings to be higher than last year's despite low Vitamin E prices and negative currency effects.

Bucking the trend, shares in Nordic mobile phone operator Telenor was a standout loser, down 5.5 per cent after it reported fourth-quarter earnings below expectations.

Europe’s earning season has been mostly positive so far. About a third of STOXX 600 index companies have reported, and 61 per cent have met or beaten analyst forecasts, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. “There’s a bit of hesitation on the market, but there’s no real selling pressure and the pull-backs are good buying opportunities,” Perceval Finance head, Jean-Louis Cussac, said. “With the quantitative easing programme coming, it’s difficult to see a correction in stocks,” he said, referring to the European Central Bank’s vast bond-buying programme.

Reuters