European stocks open mixed on Wednesday after lower-than-expected German factory orders and ahead of data on Eurozone's Retail Sales scheduled for 09:00 GMT.

Factory Orders in Germany, Eurozone's biggest economy, declined in February by -0.9%, below the estimated +1.5%. The January reading was -3.9%. Year on year Factory orders declined -1.3% compared to -0.1%. Orders fell for a second month, contradicting other positive reports on the German economy and its recovery.

The French Trade Balance rose unexpectedly last month with a reading of -3.44 billion euros, compared to forecasts of -3.8 billion and a previous reading of -3.7 billion.

The FTSE 100 index is currently trading +0.44% quoted at 6,992.37 points. Germany's DAX 30 is trading at 12,085.97 points -0.31%. France's CAC 40 is currently trading at 5,154.73 points, +0.07%.