LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Share trading on the Continent got off to a mixed start, tracking an indecisive close on Wall Street overnight after the minutes of the US central bank's last policy meeting on 13-14 June revealed a split as to when to begin to taper its balance sheet.
As of 0842 BST the benchmark Stoxx 600 was drifting lower by 0.15% or 0.55 points to 382.44, alongside a fall of 0.20% for the German Dax to 12,456.83 while the FTSE Mibtel was up 0.29% to 21,000.72.

Front month Brent crude oil futures were ahead by 1.1% to $48.31 a barrel on the NYMEX after the American Petroleum Institute reported a larger-than-expected 5.8m barrel inventory drawdown during the latest week.

In parallel, euro/dollar was flat at 1.1352.

According to the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's 13-14 June meeting, officials were split about whether to announce the start of the slow process of winding down their balance sheet in the next few months or whether to wait until later in the year in order to gather more information on the outlook for the economy and inflation.

Analysts at Berenberg Capital Markets were of the following view: "We have continually pointed out the discrepancy between the Fed tightening monetary policy and long-term US yields (and broader financial conditions) moving in the opposite direction. These very supportive financial conditions will make it more palatable for the Fed to raise its policy rate in spite of low inflation."

German factory orders disappointed in May, bouncing back by 1.0% month-on-month which was below the 1.5% rise projected by economists.

In April, they declined by 2.2% on the month.

Of note, ahead of the G-20 leaders meeting on the following weekend, the International Monetary Fund warned against trade protectionism.

"Myopic pursuit of zero-sum policies can only end by hurting all countries, as history shows," the Washington-based lender said.

Still on the economic calendar for Thursday, European Central Bank chief economist Peter Praet was due to speak at the International Conference of Commercial Bank Economists in Paris at 1100 BST.

The minutes of the ECB's own last policy meeting were scheduled for release at 1330 BST.

Later on in the session, Stateside investors will be waiting for the latest monthly ADP private sector payrolls report at 1315 BST, followed by the ISM services sector gauge at 1500 BST and weekly official crude oil inventory data a half hour later.

All of the above, naturally, ahead of Friday's all-important monthly US jobs report.

US outfit runs ruler over German lender

Shares in German lender Commerzbank were moving higher on the heels of a Bloomberg report that US private equity outfit Cerberus might be pondering taking a stake in the lender.

Aerospace giant Airbus had reportedly asked Berlin to ensure that domestic companies receive a large share of the contract for a next-generation heavy-lift military helicopter valued at roughly €4.0bn.

Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Exxon Mobil reportedly met Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani before the country announced it would increase its output of liquefied natural gas.

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