European stocks mixed; Barclays shines after overhaul, share buyback

investing.com:

Investing.com — European stock markets traded in a mixed fashion Tuesday, as investors digested a bigger-than-expected cut in China’s benchmark lending rate amid persistent concerns of slowing growth, while Barclays soared after announcing a strategic overhaul. 

At 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 0.1% lower, the FTSE 100 in the U.K. fell 0.1%, while the CAC 40 in France traded 0.1% higher.

Sentiment remains weak in Europe Tuesday, as investors continued to fret over slowing economic growth and worries that the European Central Bank, as well as the U.S. Federal Reserve, will keep interest rates at elevated levels for longer than seemed likely at the start of the year.

The decision of the People’s Bank of China earlier Tuesday to cut its 5-year loan prime rate, which is used to determine mortgage rates, by a bigger-than-expected 25 basis points to 3.95%, has provided some support, but it has also the difficulties the Asian giant is having in its important property market.

The European economic data slate sees the release of the December eurozone current account numbers, but most eyes are likely to be on the release of fourth-quarter negotiated wages data given the importance the ECB has placed on wage growth as its attempts to contain inflation. 

Barclays (LON:BARC) was in the spotlight Tuesday, with its stock soaring 6% after the British lender reported a fourth-quarter net loss of £111 million ($1 = $1.2591) while announcing an extensive strategic overhaul, including substantial cost cuts, asset sales and a reorganization of its business divisions.

The ban sweetened the pot by also announcing an additional share buyback of £1 billion, while promising to return £10 billion to shareholders between