Europe: Stock markets steady at open

[LONDON] European stock markets mostly steadied at the start of trading on Wednesday, with all eyes on minutes of the Federal Reserve's last interest-rate meeting.

Investors were looking ahead also to US jobs data due Wednesday and Friday and a US-China summit starting Thursday.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 opened flat at 12,280.06 points and the Paris CAC 40 inched up by around 0.1 per cent to 5,104.71 compared with Tuesday's close.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.3 per cent to 7,343.49 points.

"In focus today will be the Fed's March meeting minutes, with investors looking out for clues about the likely path of... further rate hikes this year," said Accendo Markets analyst Mike van Dulken.

Elsewhere, ADP private sector jobs numbers in the US to be published Wednesday were expected to provide an indication of Friday's key US nonfarm payroll report.

The US central bank raised its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in March - following a similar move in December.

AFP