Europe open: Stocks waver after more disappointing German data; investors eye ECB minutes

At 0900 BST, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was flat, France’s CAC was up 0.4% and Germany’s DAX was 0.3% higher.

“With the recent rally built on the assumption that the world’s central banks will help out with some more loose monetary policy, with the BoE and Fed releasing the minutes from their last meeting and an ECB meeting today, we could be about to find out that the bulls rally has been built on sand,” said Jonathan Sudaria, a dealer at London Capital Group.

Thursday saw the release of more disappointing data out of Germany. Figures from the Federal Statistics Office showed exports fell by the biggest amount since 2009. Seasonally-adjusted exports dropped 5.2% in August from July, while imports fell 3.1%.

On the corporate front, Deutsche Bank managed to reverse early losses to trade a little higher after it said late on Wednesday that it expects to book an impairment of around €5.8bn in the third quarter for a write-down related to its corporate banking unit. The bank also said it will take an impairment on its stake in China’s Hua Xia Bank and will set aside around €1.2bn for litigation.

As a result, the company said it will either reduce or suspend the dividend for 2015.

Later in the day, investors will turn their attention to the release of the European Central Bank’s monetary policy meeting accounts from the start of September.

“The accounts should offer detailed insight into the ECBs decision making last month which could prove important in the coming months if it is planning to ease monetary policy further, as is becoming increasingly likely,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

”It’s been almost a year since the ECB announced its asset purchase program and so far, the impact has been minimal. For most of this year we have seen small amounts of inflation but even that slipped back into negative territory last month. The risks and challenges facing the ECB when it made its decision are still largely there and to make matters worse, the euro is back trading at more elevated levels.”

The latest minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee are also due, after the European close.

Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid said that while the FOMC minutes would normally be the primary focus for markets on any given day, it’s unlikely to be the case this time around.

“It’s fair to say that these minutes are pretty stale now given the latest jobs report, the drop in market expectations for a Fed hike this year and the recent trade data numbers and the implications of those for US GDP growth,” said Reid.

In the UK, the Bank of England rate announcement and minutes are due, with the BoE widely expected to stand pat on interest rates and asset purchases.

Still to come on the data front, US initial jobless claims are on tap at 1330 BST.