The European markets are mixed in afternoon trading Thursday, after Greek lawmakers voted for austerity measures. Firm cues from Asia/Pacific and a positive comment from a Chinese think tank also influenced sentiment.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.16 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is losing 0.03 percent.
The German DAX is losing 0.10 percent, and Switzerland's SMI is falling 0.16 percent, reversing previous gains. The French CAC 40 is rising 0.16 percent and UK's FTSE 100 is adding 0.41 percent.
Among the DAX components, Siemens is advancing 0.4 percent. Goldman Sachs cut its price target for the industrial conglomerate to 151 euros from 154 euros.
Deutsche Bank is rising 0.7 percent, while Commerzbank is losing 0.3 percent.
Car manufacturer BMW is falling 1.7 percent. Volkswagen is dropping 1.1 percent, while Daimler is flat. Truckmaker MAN is losing 1.4 percent.
RWE is falling 0.4 percent. Unicredit cut its rating on the stock to "Hold" from "Buy."
Outside the main index, SMA Solar is rising about 2 percent. Deutsche Bank raised the stock to "Buy" from "Hold" and increased the price target to 85 euros from 70 euros.
Q-Cells is surging 5.6 percent in Frankfurt, although Deutsche Bank cut its price target on the stock to 1.10 euros from 2 euros. Phoenix Solar is falling 2.2 percent after it was reduced to "Sell" from "Hold" at Deutsche Bank.
Clothing & footwear firm Gerry Weber is gaining 1.8 percent after the brokerage initiated the stock with a "Buy" rating and a price target of 50 euros.
In Paris, Natixis is advancing 1.8 percent. BNP Paribas and Societe Generale are advancing 1 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. Credit Agricole is up 0.1 percent.
UBS raised GDF Suez to "Buy" from "Neutral." The stock is rising 0.7 percent.
Peugeot and Renault are falling 1.6 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
Cement giant Lafarge is falling 0.1 percent, while building materials maker Saint-Gobain is adding 0.4 percent. Deutsche Bank reduced its price target on both stocks.
In London, lender Lloyds Banking Group is surging 8.6 percent, Royal Bank of Scotland is climbing 3.65 percent and Barclays is adding 1.3 percent. Lloyds said it plans to cut 15,000 middle-level jobs as part of its effort to deliver 1.5 billion pounds of annual savings in 2014.
BG Group is advancing 4.3 percent. The company issued a material upgrade for its interests in the pre-salt Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, stating that mean total reserves and resources are currently estimated to amount to some 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with an upside potential of 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Petrofac is losing 2.9 percent. The oil & gas services provider said its operations are performing in line with expectations, adding separately that its Chief Financial Officer Keith Roberts is retiring with effect from December 31.
Among miners, BHP Billiton and Anglo American are notably higher.
Swiss commodities trader Glencore is falling about 0.5 percent. Citigroup started the stock with a "Buy" rating and a price target of 570 pence. Meanwhile, Exane BNP Paribas initiated the stock with a "Neutral" rating and a price target of 570 pence.
Vestas Wind Systems is falling 1.35 percent in Copenhagen. UBS reduded its price target on Vestas to 200 Danish kroner from 150 kroner.
In economic news, Retail sales in Germany decreased unexpectedly in May, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. Sales fell 2.8 percent month-on-month after adjusting to seasonal and calender variations. In April, sales remained unchanged. Economists were looking for a 0.5 percent increase. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was 5.9 percent in May, compared to 7.2 percent last year.
Eurozone annual inflation unexpectedly remained at 2.7 percent in June, flash estimate released by Eurostat said. Economists had expected it to accelerate to 2.8 percent from 2.7 percent in May.
In the U.K., house prices remained flat in June on a monthly comparison after rising 0.3 percent in May, matching consensus forecast, data from the Nationwide Building Society revealed. Price of a typical home in June was 1.1 percent lower than a year ago, following a 1.2 percent drop in May. The consensus forecast called for a 1.3 percent drop for June.
China's State Information Center forecast the economy to grow at a robust pace of 9.5 percent in the first half of the year, with little chance of a hard landing.
Across Asia/Pacific, many major markets ended notably higher. Australia's All Ordinaries added 1.75 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.23 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1.53 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, the Nasdaq climbed 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.8 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for August delivery is sliding $0.16 to $94.61 per barrel, while August gold is dropping $0.1 to $1510.3 a troy ounce.
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