Market Update
European shares opened Thursday nearly flat but with a positive bias, in line with other global markets that mostly logged mild gains, but gave up some gains later.
At 12:45 p.m. (I.S.T.), Britain's FTSE opened 0.2% higher while France's CAC and Germany's DAX edged up 0.1% each but were soon trading near the flat line.
Financials were pressured ahead of the declaration of the results of the "stress tests" carried out on Irish banks. BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale lost 0.5% to 1.1%.
But miners remained largely strong: BHP Billiton, Xstrata, Anglo American and Antofagasta added 0.3% to 1.2%.
In news-driven movers, U.K. homebuilder Taylor Wimpey jumped 2.3% in London after it agreed to sell its North American holdings for $957 million.