Investing.com - European stocks opened sharply lower on Thursday, after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting increased expectations for a December rate hike and as downbeat Chinese trade data fuelled fresh concerns over world growth perspectives.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 lost 1.22%, France’s CAC 40 plummeted 1.30%, while Germany’s DAX 30 tumbled 1.22%.
Equity markets were hit after the minutes of the Fed's September policy meeting released on Wednesday showed several voting members of the policy committee judged a rate hike would be warranted "relatively soon" if the U.S. economy continued to strengthen.
Earlier Thursday, data showed that China’s trade surplus narrowed to $41.99 billion in September from $52.05 billion the previous month. Analysts had expected the trade surplus to widen to $53.00 billion last month.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) plummeted 1.98% and 2.45%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) lost 1.91% and 2.20%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) tumbled 1.93% and 0.84% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MC:SAN) and BBVA (MC:BBVA) declined 2.15% and 2.21%.
Siemens AG (DE:SIEGn) added to losses, with shares down 1.48% after the German company said it partnered with IBM (NYSE:IBM) to help hospitals better manage populations of patients.
French automaker Renault SA (PA:RENA) plummeted 1.60% after saying it had to recall 50,000 units of its best-selling small car Kwid in India due to a faulty fuel system.
In London, FTSE 100 retreated 0.75%, weighed by losses in the financial sector.
Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) slid 0.68% and HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) tumbled 0.99%, while Barclays (LON:BARC) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) sank 1.66% and 2.46% respectively.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were mixed on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) plunged 4.24% and rival company Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) dove 4.44%, while Fresnillo (LON:FRES) gained 0.67% and Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) jumped 1.66%.
Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) was one of the top performers on the index, with shares up 0.93% after the luxury carmaker announced on Tuesday that it will be launching a new vehicle to North America and that its most notable feature will be an artificial intelligence called Eleanor.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.61% drop, S&P 500 futures showed a 0.67% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.66% loss.