LONDON: Europe's stock markets fell Wednesday on banking blues, as investors shrugged off yet another record-breaking Wall Street performance and gains in most of Asia.
Strong results from Apple and a fifth straight record-close on Wall Street helped fuel further gains for Tokyo and Hong Kong, with sentiment boosted also by benign world economic data.
However, Frankfurt, London and Paris equities all sank into the red amid disappointment surrounding banks.
In Paris, shares in French lender Societe Generale slid five percent after revealing that second-quarter net profits tumbled on the cost of settling a lawsuit with Libya's sovereign wealth fund.
In London, shares in emerging markets lender Standard Chartered dropped more than four percent on news that it was not resuming payment of its shareholder dividend.
And German peer Commerzbank shed one percent in Frankfurt after logging a second-quarter loss on restructuring costs.
Many traders trod cautiously before this week's key events, and cashed in gains won on Tuesday's strong eurozone economic growth data.
The Bank of England will announce its latest interest rate decision on Thursday. One day later, the United States will publish its key healthcheck on the state of the world's biggest economy.
"Overall sentiment remains neutral with many traders preferring to stay on the side-lines for now until at least the BoE tomorrow or even until Friday's US non-farm payrolls data," said Markus Huber, analyst at trading firm City of London Markets.
In Asia, markets drew considerable strength from iPhone maker Apple's better-than-expected results for the past quarter.
Sentiment was also buoyed by upbeat Chinese manufacturing figures.
Higher revenues and profits at Apple helped trigger fresh buying in Tokyo as a range of Japanese companies supply components for the California-based firm's smartphone and other devices.
Tokyo's Nikkei stocks index meanwhile ended up 0.5 percent. Shanghai drifted lower after closing at a 2017 record-high on Tuesday, as investors took profits.
Sydney stocks slid, with banks and commodities ending down, before mining giant Rio Tinto reported a 93-percent jump in its first-half net profit on the back of rising commodity prices.
Elsewhere, India's central bank cut interest rates for the first time in almost a year, responding to a slowing economy and record low inflation.
The Reserve Bank of India said the benchmark repo rate -- the level at which it lends to commercial banks -- would be cut by 25 basis points to six percent, a near seven-year low.
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