Market Update
Stocks in Europe turned higher in afternoon trade Wednesday, with sharp buying in resource plays boosting the indexes and offsetting selling pressure in retailers and banks.
At 1:45 p.m. (I.S.T.), Britain's FTSE and France's CAC rose 0.6% while Germany's DAX was trading 0.3% higher.
In London, J Sainsbury dropped 5.5% after its results were slightly short of street expectations and after the retailer expressed a cautious outlook ahead due to rising input costs. Peer Tesco fell 1.5%.
In financials, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale declined 0.1% to 0.9%. However, miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata outperformed the broader mark, rising 2.2% to 2.8%. Oil stocks BP and Total gained 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively.
In other news-driven movers, UniCredit added 1.8% after declaring quarterly earnings.
Elsewhere, Asian markets ended mixed, with the Japanese Nikkei falling sharply on renewed radiation concerns.