European stocks mixed to lower as U.S. worries persist; Dax down 0.09%

European stocks were mixed to lower on Tuesday, as sustained concerns over the handling of U.S. budget negotiations and the possibility of a U.S. default continued to weigh on investor confidence. 

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 inched up 0.06%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.11%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.09%. 

President Barack Obama repeated Monday that he is willing to negotiate with congressional Republicans on a range of topics, including healthcare and energy policy, but only after the government is reopened.

Mr. Obama also called on Congress to raise the government borrowing limit ahead of the October 17 deadline, the date which the Treasury Department has estimated the U.S. could risk a default. 

Meanwhile, official data released Tuesday showed that Germany's trade surplus widened more-than-expected in August, rising to EUR15.6 billion from an upwardly revised surplus of EUR15 billion the previous month. Analysts had expected the trade surplus to widen to EUR15.1 billion in August. 

Financial stocks were mixed, as BNP Paribas slipped 0.17% and Societe Generale inched up 0.03% in France, while Deutsche Bank added 0.14% and Commerzbank declined 0.83% in Germany. 

However, among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander climbed 0.48% and 0.79% respectively, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo advanced 0.56% and 0.99%. 

Elsewhere, Alcatel-Lucent rallied 1.87% after the telecoms equipment maker announced plans to reduce its staff by 10,000 as part of a strategy to save EUR1 billion in costs. 

On the downside, Novartis shed 0.66% after JPMorgan Chase cut its recommendation on the drugmaker to "neutral" from "overweight". 

In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 shed 0.30%, weighed by losses in mining stocks. 

Shares in Polymetal and Fresnillo lost 0.89% and 1.18% respectively, while rival companies Glencore Xstrata and BHP Billiton plummeted 1.51% and 1.47%. 

Financial stocks were also on the downside, with the Royal Bank of Scotland retreating 0.40% and Barclays down 0.48%, while HSBC Holdings and Lloyds Banking slid 0.21% and 0.42%. 

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady to higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.06% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.05% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.12% increase. 

Later in the day, Germany was to release official data on factory orders.