The European markets began under the weight of the export sector, with the indices recording losses after the news that China proceeded with a devaluation of its currency.
The British FTSE 100 index fell by 0.51% at 6,698 points, the German DAX recorded a fall of 0.70% at 11,524 points and the French CAC 40 moved downwards by 0.66% at 5,161 points.
European STOXX 600 index fell by 0.43% at 398.09 points.
On the board, the companies that derive a significant portion of their revenues from exports recorded significant losses, as it is estimated that the devaluation of the Chinese yuan will hurt their sales. BMW (XETRA:BMWG) and Daimler AG NA O.N. (XETRA:DAIGn) lost over 1.8%, while the LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (PARIS:LVMH) and Swatch Group (SIX:UHR) made losses of more than 2.2%.
Also, Adecco (SIX:ADEN) fell by 3.3%, as it announced that the profits and revenues of the second quarter were lower than expected. The company's profit was €177 million, while analysts expected it to reach €182 million.
In contrast, Konecranes Oyj (LONDON:0MET) increased by 24%, after the agreement that occurred for the merger with Terex Corporation (NYSE:TEX). Earlier, it became known that the Central Bank of China proceeded with a devaluation of the yuan with the Chinese currency to decline almost to a 3-year low. The devaluation was around 2%.
Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Creates New Umbrella Company Alphabet
Google creates “umbrella” company under the name Alphabet according to an official statement, MarketWatch says.
Alphabet will replace Google as a «brand name» and all Google's shares will go to the newly-formed company.
The current head of Google, Larry Page, will be the new Managing Director (CEO) of Alphabet. Sundar Pichai will be the new Google CEO from now on.
The aim is to publicize the results of the two companies for the fourth quarter of 2015 - Google and Alphabet - says the announcement.