Istanbul: European stock markets opened Wednesday's session with caution and mixed performance, as investors await developments in West Asia alongside the release of corporate earnings results. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index began trading at the start of the session with a slight decline, hovering near the 620-point level. France's CAC 40 index on the Paris exchange also fell by 0.56 percent, weighed down by a sharp drop in shares of its major luxury goods companies.

According to Qatar News Agency, Germany's DAX index in Frankfurt remained broadly stable, edging up by 0.07 percent, as did the UK's FTSE 100 index with a 0.06 percent gain, and Italy's FTSE MIB index on the Milan exchange, which rose by 0.03 percent.