Investing.com - European stocks declined on Friday, tracking Thursday's downtrend in U.S. equity markets and as investors eyed the release of fresh earnings reports later in the trading session.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 retreated 0.45%, France’s CAC 40 slid 0.70%, while Germany’s DAX dropped 0.76%.
U.S. equities declined on Thursday after the Labor Department reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 4 fell by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 300,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised total of 332,000.
Continuing jobless claims declined to 2.77 million, the lowest since January 2008.
Also Thursday, Greece made a successful return to the financial markets, raising €3 billion in its first bond auction since 2010, when Athens sought its first bailout.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas (BNPP.PAR) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PAR) dropped 0.50% and 0.48%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.XETRA) rose 0.36%.
Among peripheral lenders, Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MILAN) retreated 0.61% and Unicredit (CRDI.MILAN) climbed 0.84% in Italy, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (SAN.MADRID) and BBVA (BBVA.MADRID) fell 0.06% and 0.20% respectively.
Elsewhere, Paris-based Thales (TCFP.PAR) plummeted 4.07% after JPMorgan Chase lowered its rating for the shares.
Adding to losses, Givaudan (GIVN.SIX) tumbled 1% as comparable sales at its flavor division missed analysts' estimates.
In London, FTSE 100 declined 0.67%, led by ARM Holdings, down 3.49%, after Deutsche Bank restated the stock's "hold" rating.
Financial stocks were also mostly lower, as the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.LSE) shed 0.36% and Barclays (BARC.LSE) dropped 0.53%, while Lloyds Banking (LLOY.LSE) tumbled 1.11%. HSBC Holdings (HSBA.LSE) overperformed, rising 0.31%.
In the mining sector, Glencore Xstrata (GLEN.LSE) edged down 0.11% and Bhp Billiton (BLT.LSE) slipped 0.28%, while Vedanta Resources (VED.LSE) and Rio Tinto (RIO.LSE) retreated 0.64% and 0.81% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.22% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.27% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.23% gain.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on producer price inflation, as well as the preliminary report on the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index.