(RTTNews) - European stocks eked out modest gains in cautious trade on Wednesday ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's July meeting minutes and preliminary revisions to U.S. labor data later in the day.
The dollar dipped against major currencies, tracking overnight declines in U.S. Treasury yields as investors brace for Fed Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming speech at the Kansas City Fed's Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday.
Experts anticipate Powell will hint at a 25-bps rate cut in September, but caution that decisions will remain data-dependent.
The pan European STOXX 600 was up 0.2 percent at 513.10 after snapping a five-day winning streak in the previous session.
The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both edged up around 0.3 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent.
In corporate news, Alcon AG tumbled 3.3 percent after the Swiss eye care company reported second-quarter results that missed estimates.
Miners traded higher in London after Shanghai aluminum futures scaled a five-week high, supported by tightness in raw materials supply.
Anglo American rose 1.3 percent and Glencore added 0.8 percent.
Costain Group jumped 4 percent after the engineering firm announced robust first-half results and unveiled a £10m share buyback program.
Housebuilder Barratt Developments edged up slightly. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has hinted measures proposed by Barratt and Redrow to alleviate the regulator's local competition concerns are likely to be accepted.
