Europe open: Stocks start on mixed note, Greece in focus

European stocks were trading on a mixed note at the start of the session on Wednesday amid heightened fears about the outlook for a third Greek bailout.

As of 0816 GMT the benchmark Stoxx 600 was up by 0.38% to 364.23, while the Dax was higher by 0.13% to 11,567.96 and the Cac-40 was gaining 0.45% to 4,775.21.

Milan's FTSE Mibtel on the other hand was slightly lower, retreating 0.32% to 18,620.99.

"Given Brexit and Trump it has been a while since the Eurozone has been given so much attention. Yet with Draghi disappointing the euro on Monday, an anti-EU presidential campaign from Marine Le Pen and, perhaps most pressingly, the re-emergence of the debt crisis in Greece (something that never really went away, but that has only just returned to the forefront of investors’ minds) the region is having a largely negative return to the spotlight," said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

Overnight, two documents from the International Monetary Fund showed doubts about the long-term sustainability of Greece's pile of government debt remained very high.

In its latest annual review of the Mediterranean country's economy, released during the previous session, the Fund said its debt load was "highly unsustainable".

Greece required substantial debt relief, the IMF said, casting doubt on whether it would join a third bailout package for Greece.

Front month Brent crude oil futures were off by 0.6% to $54.73 per barrel on the ICE, while the single currency was down 0.3% versus the US dollar at 1.0656.

In the corporate space, French drug-maker Sanofi was higher after posting a 3.3% topline growth to reach €8.9bn for the fourth quarter, while net income rocketed 136.5% to €790m. For all of 2016 net income was ahead by 9.8% to €4.71bn.

Another French outfit, luxury firm Hermes said revenue for the three months to December was higher by 7.6%.

Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk was leading losses on the Stoxx 600 after reporting a hefty $2.68bn loss for the month ending in December, amid $1.5bn of impairments at its Maersk Drilling unit. The company also announced it would have its dividend payout to 150 Danish Kroner and that its chairman Michael Pram would set down at the end of March.