Europe midday: Dovish ECB remarks soothe nerves, utilities unwanted
Shares moved slightly into the black following dovish comments from another top official at the European Central Bank, although traders were keeping a close eye on events in Qatar and on the North Korean peninsula.
As of 1145 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 0.04% or 0.15 points higher to 382.46, with the German Dax rising by 0.06% or 8.50 points to 12,445.88. Paris's Cac-40 was a fraction higher as well, gaining 0.10% or 5.35 points to 5,180.45.
Investors were waiting on the the release of the minutes of the US central bank's last policy meeting later in the day, which traders hoped might provide clues regarding the likelihood of further monetary tightening in 2017.
Ahead of those, ECB governing council member Benoit Coeure said policymakers had not been discussing changes to their policy stance.
That saw euro/dollar dip 0.24% to 1.1320.
Utilities were among the worst performers, with the Stoxx 600's gauge for the sector falling 0.73% to 289.04.
The day before strategists at Citi had told clients the current 'bull' market had longer to run and to "buy into" any central bank induced volatility. With that in mind, they expressed a preference for 'cyclicals' over 'defensives'.
Also weighing on the sector were downgrades from HSBC and Deutsche Bank on shares of EdF and Enagas, respectively.
Share price gains in the former, HSBC said, had run too far.
The German broker meanwhile downgraded the Spanish gas group from 'buy' to 'hold'.
In the background, ratings agency Moody's downgraded its outlook on Qatar's debt from 'stable' to 'negative', warning of the impact that the diplomatic spat with its neighbours might have on its economy.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council was due to hold an emergency meeting later on Wednesday to discuss North Korea's firing of a ballistic missile the day before.
On the economic front, IHS Markit's composite euro area PMI, which combines results from surveys of manufacturing and services, slipped from a reading of 53.8 for June to 56.3 in May (consensus: 55.7).
Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS, said: "The dip in the PMI in June certainly doesn't look like the start of a slowdown. Growth of new orders accelerated very slightly to reach the second highest in just over six years, and companies are struggling to satisfy this increase in demand."
Euro area retail sales grew by 0.4% month-on-month and 2.6% year-on-year, according to Eurostat, which was better than forecasts calling for increases of 0.3% and 2.3%.
Still on the economic calendar for Wednesday, revised US durable goods orders data for May was scheduled for release at 1500 BST, followed by the minutes of the Fed's last policy meeting at 1900 BST.