European stock markets trading near the opening levels, as investors awaited the publication of corporate reports and monitoring the situation around the upcoming presidential elections in France.

It became known yesterday that the candidate Francois Bayrou has proposed an alliance with an independent centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron. Macron has accepted the offer. The news eased worries about the victory of Marine Le Pen, serving for weakening ties with the EU.

In focus were also minutes of the last Fed meeting. Fed officials signaled the possibility of a rate hike in view of the improvement in the economy. Some of them reported a higher probability of a rate hike in the event that inflation will rise sharply and the unemployment rate will go down. However, there was no clear indication of the timing of rate hikes. In addition, Fed officials have provided little new information on the Fed's plans to reduce its asset portfolio. According to the futures market, the likelihood of a Fed hike at the March meeting, is 17.7%, as the previous day.

Certain influence on the dynamics of trade had statistics on Germany. The annualized GDP rose by 1.2%. Experts agree that the German industry continues to gain momentum in the run-up to elections.

The composite index of the largest companies in the region Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.02%. The capitalization of Rio Tinto fell 3.2%, while the value of Glencore rose 2.6% after reports that annual profits increased 18%.

Shares of the French conglomerate Bouygues jumped 5% after allegations of profitability improvement in one of its telecommunications divisions. Operating profit amounted to 1.1 billion euros compared to 941 million in 2015.

The cost of the Spanish telecommunications group Telefonica rose 2.1% as the company reported an increase of 14.3 per cent of the profit for the full year.

At the moment:

FTSE 100 -8.40 -0.12% 7293.85

DAX -4.78 11993.81 -0.04%

CAC 40 +4.65 4900.53 + 0.09%