Europe open: Stocks waver as commodity prices steady

European stocks wavered in early trade as oil and metals prices steadied, but investors were struggling for direction amid a lack of market-moving news.

At 0900 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.1%, France’s CAC 40 was up 0.2% and Germany’s DAX was flat.

“Sentiment remains fragile ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting. With new money unlikely to make its way into the market ahead of the Fed decision, the next week is likely to see markets struggle to move significantly higher until we get beyond this event,” said Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor.

Miners were the best performers following heavy losses in the previous session, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index for the sector up 1.4%.

O’Keeffe said: “After yesterday's dramatic commodity price falls, we are seeing a relief rally this morning, but prospects for the sector remain subdued. With significant oversupply in the oil market and the possibility that further supply from Libya and Iran could add to the problem, the next issue in the supply chain is storage."

"With on-shore capacity limited, the possibility that storage costs could rise might increase downward pressure on short-term oil prices. Slowing Chinese demand remains the key constraint for industrial metal prices, with the main 'solution' to falling prices likely to come from reduced supply and forced closures.”

Ashtead was the standout gainer on the Stoxx 600 index after the equipment rental company reported a positive start to the year, with first half revenue growth of 18% driven by a strong second quarter.

Pearson was under the cosh after Deutsche Bank cut its price target on the stock pointing to further potential downside to estimates.

German chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer was weaker after European and US drug safety agencies said they were investigating whether a drug trial was affected by a defective blood-clotting test device.

Oil refiner Neste slid after warning that a technical issue at its Porvoo refinery would lead to a production loss of tens of millions of euros.

On the data front, figures released earlier by the Federal Statistics Office showed seasonally-adjusted exports in Germany fell 1.2% in October, while imports dropped 3.4%. Both falls were a lot sharper than expected.

The data calendar is fairly light, with US wholesale inventories the highlight at 1500 GMT.