Investing.com - European stocks were remained mostly lower on Thursday, after European Union finance ministers came to an agreement over future bank failures, while uncertainty over the future of the Federal Reserve's stimulus program continued to weigh.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.24%, France’s CAC 40 eased 0.07%, while Germany’s DAX 30 edged down 0.07%.
Early Thursday, EU finance ministers agreed on a deal about future bank bailouts and who is liable to pay for them. According to the new rules, shareholders, bondholders and depositors with more than EUR100,000 should share the burden of saving a bank.
The deal came after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Wednesday that monetary policy will remain accommodative for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to unwind its asset purchase program later this year, despite a downward revision to U.S. first quarter growth on Wednesday.
Financial stocks turned mostly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale dropped 0.53% and 1.50%. Germany's Deutsche Bank trended higher on the other hand, jumping 1.25%.
Peripheral lenders added to losses, with Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA plummeting 2.38% and 2.12% respectively, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo retreated 0.64% and 1.50%.
Elsewhere, Repsol slid 0.93% after its board rejected a USD3.5 billion offer by Argentina to compensate the company for the expropriation of a stake in YPF SA last year.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 added 0.16%, even as revised data showed that the U.K. economy expanded at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first quarter, down from a preliminary estimate of 0.6% growth.
Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto remained higher, jumping 0.76% and 1.21% respectively, while Anglo American rallied 1.57%.
Meanwhile, U.K. lenders continued to trend mostly lower. HSBC Holdings dropped 0.46% and Barclays tumbled 1.56%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland plunged 1.96%. Lloyds Banking overperformed on the other hand, edging up 0.19%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.17% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.22% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.17% rise.
Also Thursday, Germany's Federal Statistics Office said the number of unemployed people fell by a seasonally adjusted 12,000 in June, confounding expectations for an increase of 8,000.
Germany’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.8% this month, compared to expectations for an uptick to 6.9%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and a report on pending home sales.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.24%, France’s CAC 40 eased 0.07%, while Germany’s DAX 30 edged down 0.07%.
Early Thursday, EU finance ministers agreed on a deal about future bank bailouts and who is liable to pay for them. According to the new rules, shareholders, bondholders and depositors with more than EUR100,000 should share the burden of saving a bank.
The deal came after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Wednesday that monetary policy will remain accommodative for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to unwind its asset purchase program later this year, despite a downward revision to U.S. first quarter growth on Wednesday.
Financial stocks turned mostly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale dropped 0.53% and 1.50%. Germany's Deutsche Bank trended higher on the other hand, jumping 1.25%.
Peripheral lenders added to losses, with Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA plummeting 2.38% and 2.12% respectively, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo retreated 0.64% and 1.50%.
Elsewhere, Repsol slid 0.93% after its board rejected a USD3.5 billion offer by Argentina to compensate the company for the expropriation of a stake in YPF SA last year.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 added 0.16%, even as revised data showed that the U.K. economy expanded at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first quarter, down from a preliminary estimate of 0.6% growth.
Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto remained higher, jumping 0.76% and 1.21% respectively, while Anglo American rallied 1.57%.
Meanwhile, U.K. lenders continued to trend mostly lower. HSBC Holdings dropped 0.46% and Barclays tumbled 1.56%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland plunged 1.96%. Lloyds Banking overperformed on the other hand, edging up 0.19%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.17% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.22% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.17% rise.
Also Thursday, Germany's Federal Statistics Office said the number of unemployed people fell by a seasonally adjusted 12,000 in June, confounding expectations for an increase of 8,000.
Germany’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.8% this month, compared to expectations for an uptick to 6.9%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and a report on pending home sales.