European Markets Flat in Choppy Trades

European markets were trading cautiously near the flat-line Tuesday as investors looked ahead to the minutes of latest policy meetings of Bank of England as well as U.S. Federal Reserve due later in the day.

The FTSE 100, the CAC 40 Paris and the DAX Frankfurt were all flat at the time of writing at 8:30 a.m. in London.

Investors were also looking forward to employment figures from the U.K. The Bank of England was set to publish minutes of its February 5-6 policy meeting at 9:30 a.m. London time.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, meanwhile, was due to release minutes of its January 28-29 policy meeting after the European markets close today. But investors took a cautious stance ahead of a key economic report on construction of new homes in the U.S., scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

Stocks on the Move
Some earnings-related news were in focus -- building materials maker Lafarge S.A. rose 2.6% after posting results.

French lending giant Credit Agricole SA was up 1.3% as the bank swung back to profit in the fourth quarter.

Also in France, carmaker Peugeot accelerated 1.8% after confirming plans to bring in China's Dongfeng Motor Group and French state to shore up its balance sheet.

On the other hand, Vodafone Group plc. lost 0.3% after the telecom giant said it will get 1.27 billion shares of Verizon Communications (VZ) as part of the consideration agreed under a deal to share its interest in the Verizon wireless joint venture.

London based Gasol Plc. was 0.4% off after the energy company said its proposed acquisition of Energie de Cote would not proceed.

Sector-wise, financials and resources stocks were mostly in the red.

French banks BNP Paribas SA and Societe Generale SA erased around 1% each while Lloyds Banking Group plc. retreated 1.3%.

Among miners, BHP Billiton Plc. was little changed but Rio Tinto Plc. slipped 0.2% while Anglo American Plc. gave up more than 1%.