Europe midday: Investors look to ECB chief Draghi amid buoyant global trade data

European indices are trading on a mixed note as investors wait for a speech from European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi.

Acting as a backdrop, news that ratings agency Moody's had downgraded its rating on China's sovereign debt - the first such move since 1989 - sent shares in Basic Resource companies lower at the start of trading, but they had since recovered.

As of 1215 BST, the Stoxx 600 was flat at 391.99, but the Dax was off by 0.25% to 12,627.59 even as the Cac-40 slipped 0.22% to 5,336.42.

In parallel, the Stoxx 600's subindex of Basic Resource companies was edging higher by 0.23% to 399.42.

Draghi was set to speak at 12:45 BST, amid increased speculation that the ECB might subtly change its policy bias when the Governing Council next met, in June.

Earlier in the day, the ECB's chief economist, Peter Praet, indicated policymakers need to be more confident that inflation is on a durable path towards the monetary authority's target of just below 2% before making any changes in their risk assessment.

That meant that a shift in the ECB's policy bias at its June meeting was unlikely, but there were others such as fellow Governing Council member Benoit Coeure who had recently argued for the need to begin moving to a less accomodative stance.

GfK's German consumer confidence index improved from a reading of 10.2 for May to 10.4 for June (consensus: 10.2).

Real global trade jumped by 1.5% month-on-month in March, pushing the year-on-year rate of gains to 5.6%, led primarily by exports from emerging markets which surged by nearly 10% on the year.

It was the strongest rise since April 2011, according to UniCredit Research.

"The latest data confirm that the recovery of the global economy has been well under way, especially in emerging markets. It also flags that yesterday’s strong business sentiment data for the Eurozone and Germany do not just reflect favorable psychological tailwinds such as the outcome of the French presidential election," UniCredit's Dr. Andreas Rees said.

On the calendar for later in the day, the minutes of the US central bank's last meeting were set for release at 19:00 BST. Beforehand, at 14:00 BST, the FHFA was to publish its home price data for March, following existing home sales figures for April at 13:30 BST.

According to ex-French central bank chief Christian Noyer, almost two dozen lenders and asset management firms were talking to the country's regulators about shifting jobs to France after Brexit.

Shares in German real estate outfit Vonovia SE were lower despite the company having raises its full-year outlook.

On Tuesday, Moody's raised the outlook on Leonardo's long-term debt to 'positive' from 'stable'.