European Markets Mixed After President Obama Delays Congress Vote on Syria Intervention

European markets followed their Asian peers and witnessed mixed trading on Wednesday, after US President Barack Obama deferred a Congressional vote on military action against the Syrian government.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index opened flat to around 309.87.

Britain's FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX 30 opened 0.1% higher.

France's CAC 40 opened 0.3% lower.

Italy's FTSE MIB was up 0.47% in early trade.

Spain's IBEX 35 was down 0.19% in early trade.

Western powers want the Syrian government to hand over its chemical weapons.

In the US, in a short, 16-minute prime-time address from the White House on 10 September, President Obama said he would give diplomatic efforts a chance in solving the Syrian crisis, but insisted that the US military would be prepared to act if such initiatives failed to yield results.

The US president also postponed a Congress vote on military action against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime over his purported use of chemical weapons.

US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva to explore a diplomatic solution to solve the Syrian crisis.

Market participants in Europe will be tracking UK unemployment data and German inflation data for the month of August during the day.

In company news, Britain's largest homebuilder by volume Barratt Developments' net income, for the year ended 30 June, 2013, rose to £75m (€89m , $118m) from £67.4m a year ago. Barratt is seen benefiting from a housing market recovery in the UK.

Retailers Kingfisher Group and Sports Direct and chocolate maker Thorntons will also put out their earnings updates during the day.

In Asia and the US

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei finished 0.01% higher on 11 September. Australia's S&P/ASX closed 0.64% higher while South Korea's Kospi ended 0.49% higher.

Earlier in Asia, markets witnessed mixed trading on news that the US had deferred military strikes against the Syrian government.

In other news, South and North Korea agreed to reopen a joint industrial park following a five-month closure, in a bid to boost their economies despite a conflict of interests. Seoul's unification ministry said that the operations at the Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea would be restarted following a trial run on 16 September.

On Wall Street, indices ended near session highs on 10 September, boosted by news that President Obama had delayed potential strikes against the Syrian government and by positive economic data from China.

China's August industrial production rose above expectations and at its fastest pace in 17 months, suggesting that the world's second-largest economy is recovering from a slowdown. Government data released on 10 September showed that China's industrial production rose 10.4% year-on-year in August, beating economists' expectations of a 9.9% growth.

The Dow finished 127.94 points higher at 15,191.06 on 10 September.

The S&P 500 closed 12.28 points higher at 1,683.99 while the Nasdaq ended 22.84 points higher at 3,729.02. Both stock markets have logged gains for six consecutive sessions.