Stocks in Europe opened lower Wednesday, with retailers the hardest hit, even as fresh concerns over the fiscal state of debt-laden countries like Portugal came to the fore once again.
At 1:45 p.m. (I.S.T.), Britain's FTSE, France's CAC and Germany's DAX slipped 0.1% to 0.3%.
In London, J Sainsbury dropped 4.5% early after its results were slightlyshort of street expectations and after the retailer expressed a cautious outlook ahead due to rising input costs. Peer Tesco fell 2.5%.
In financials, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Deutsche Bank declined 0.4% to 1.1% but miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata bucked the general trend, rising 0.5% to 0.8%.
In other news-driven movers, UniCredit added 1.4% after declaring quarterly earnings.
Elsewhere, Asian markets were trading mixed, with the Japanese Nikkei falling sharply on renewed radiation concerns.