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Stocks mostly higher despite oil, miners falling; WPP up 6.5%
European stocks were mostly higher on Wednesday, as investors shook off the volatility seen in commodities and focused on the bounce in media and banking stocks, ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was up 0.55 percent in afternoon trade, with most sectors trading up.
Looking at major bourses, the French CAC 40 (Euronext Paris: .FCHI) and Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) were both higher, at 0.6 and 0.5 percent respectively. Meanwhile, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 (FTSE International: .FTSE) lagged behind, down 0.1 percent.
Markets have been lacking direction during this choppy trading week, as investors await cues from Yellen, who is set to deliver a speech at the annual gathering of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in which hints on the timing of a U.S. interest rate rise could emerge.
Meanwhile, crude futures continued to shake up markets with prices declining after the American Petroleum Institute reported on Tuesday that U.S. crude inventories rose last week . Brent and WTI crude last stood around $49.30 and $47.10 per barrel, respectively.
Miners were also weighing on markets. Glencore (London Stock Exchange: GLEN-GB), agreed to sell a 30 percent stake in the Ernest Henry copper mine in Australia to Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN-AU) for 880 million Australian dollars ($670 million), as it continues its try and cut its debt. The Anglo-Swiss miner also reported a fall in first-half core profit, sending shares down over 4 percent.
The news along with a slightly stronger dollar weighed on commodity stocks, with Anglo American (London Stock Exchange: AAL-GB) and Antofagasta (London Stock Exchange: ANTO-GB) trading lower.
On the earnings front, WPP (London Stock Exchange: WPP-GB)'s first-half revenue rose 11.9 percent with the advertising giant raising its full-year target, sending shares up over 6 percent.
However, Sweden's SCA (Stockholmsborsen:SCA.B-SE) beat WPP to the top, up close to 11 percent, after it announced that it plans on splitting into two listed companies during 2017.
One of Europe's best performing sectors was banks, with Italian lenders leading the gains including Unicredit, up 5.5 percent. On Tuesday, Poland's deputy prime minister said the country was not conducting any negotiations with Unicredit regarding the possible purchase of its Polish unit, Pekao, but any possible deal would be done on market terms; Reuters reported.
Persimmon (London Stock Exchange: PSN-GB) jumped 2.5 percent after a number of companies raised their price target for the stock. This lifted other U.K. housebuilders.
Meanwhile, Mediaset's (Milan Stock Exchange: MS-IT) largest shareholder, Finivest, has filed a court request against Vivendi around a contract to buy its pay-TV unit. In April, Vivendi (Euronext Paris: VIV-FR) agreed to acquire the division but three months later, proposed new terms of the deal. As a result, Finivest said it was seeking damages for hurt to its reputation and a fall in Mediaset's shares. Mediaset and Vivendi were both in the black.
