Investing.com - European stock markets fell on Thursday, as global growth concerns continued to weigh on sentiment while investors focused on Friday’s key meeting of euro zone finance ministers to reach an agreement on the size of the bailout fund for indebted countries.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.49%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.34%, while Germany’s DAX 30 declined 0.47%.
Weaker-than-expected economic data from the U.S. hit stock markets on Wednesday, after the Commerce Department said durable goods orders rose 2.2% in February, partially reversing the previous month’s revised 3.6% decline, but falling short of expectations for a 3.0% increase.
On Friday, euro zone ministers were expected to decide at a meeting in Copenhagen to run the EUR500 billion permanent European Stability Mechanism alongside the EUR200 billion committed by the temporary fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel bowed to pressure earlier in the week to support an enlarged firewall, following calls from the International Monetary Fund to bolster the region’s bailout capacity amid mounting concerns over Portugal and Spain.
Car makers were among the top losers as shares in Daimler plummeted 1.49% and Volkswagen lost 1.02%, while BMW retreated 0.92%.
Energy stocks were also on the downside, led by France’s oil giant Total, whose shares tumbled 1.50% as the company was still seeking for ways to extinguish a flare left burning 100 meters from where explosive natural gas was leaking at the Elgin North Sea platform for a fifth day.
Elsewhere, Swedish retailing company H&M plunged 4.79% after reporting first- quarter profit that missed estimates.
In the financial sector, France’s Societe Generale added 0.66% and BNP Paribas slipped 0.14%, while German lender Deutsche Bank saw shares edge 0.08% higher.
In London, FTSE 100 fell 0.60%, weighed by losses in financial stocks and after data showed that house prices in the U.K. fell unexpectedly in March.
Lloyds Banking tumbled 1.21%, closely followed by Barclays, down 1.05%, while shares in HSBC Holdings and the Royal Bank of Scotland declined 0.90% and 0.73% respectively.
FirstGroup, the U.K.’s biggest train operator, plunged 13.77% as it warned that margins in its U.K. bus division would fall more than a third this year, due to the weak economy and government cuts to subsidies for the industry.
On the upside, mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton were among the session’s top gainers, with shares climbing 2.52% and 0.99%.
Copper producers failed, however, to shake off the recent downward trend as shares in Xsrata and Kazakhmys fell 0.21% and 0.22% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.10%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.11% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.08% loss.
Also Thursday, official data showed that the number of unemployed people in Germany fell more-than-expected in March by 18,000, while the country’s jobless rate dropped to a record low of 6.7%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish government data on unemployment claims and final data on fourth quarter gross domestic product. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was also due to speak.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.49%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.34%, while Germany’s DAX 30 declined 0.47%.
Weaker-than-expected economic data from the U.S. hit stock markets on Wednesday, after the Commerce Department said durable goods orders rose 2.2% in February, partially reversing the previous month’s revised 3.6% decline, but falling short of expectations for a 3.0% increase.
On Friday, euro zone ministers were expected to decide at a meeting in Copenhagen to run the EUR500 billion permanent European Stability Mechanism alongside the EUR200 billion committed by the temporary fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel bowed to pressure earlier in the week to support an enlarged firewall, following calls from the International Monetary Fund to bolster the region’s bailout capacity amid mounting concerns over Portugal and Spain.
Car makers were among the top losers as shares in Daimler plummeted 1.49% and Volkswagen lost 1.02%, while BMW retreated 0.92%.
Energy stocks were also on the downside, led by France’s oil giant Total, whose shares tumbled 1.50% as the company was still seeking for ways to extinguish a flare left burning 100 meters from where explosive natural gas was leaking at the Elgin North Sea platform for a fifth day.
Elsewhere, Swedish retailing company H&M plunged 4.79% after reporting first- quarter profit that missed estimates.
In the financial sector, France’s Societe Generale added 0.66% and BNP Paribas slipped 0.14%, while German lender Deutsche Bank saw shares edge 0.08% higher.
In London, FTSE 100 fell 0.60%, weighed by losses in financial stocks and after data showed that house prices in the U.K. fell unexpectedly in March.
Lloyds Banking tumbled 1.21%, closely followed by Barclays, down 1.05%, while shares in HSBC Holdings and the Royal Bank of Scotland declined 0.90% and 0.73% respectively.
FirstGroup, the U.K.’s biggest train operator, plunged 13.77% as it warned that margins in its U.K. bus division would fall more than a third this year, due to the weak economy and government cuts to subsidies for the industry.
On the upside, mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton were among the session’s top gainers, with shares climbing 2.52% and 0.99%.
Copper producers failed, however, to shake off the recent downward trend as shares in Xsrata and Kazakhmys fell 0.21% and 0.22% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.10%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.11% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.08% loss.
Also Thursday, official data showed that the number of unemployed people in Germany fell more-than-expected in March by 18,000, while the country’s jobless rate dropped to a record low of 6.7%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish government data on unemployment claims and final data on fourth quarter gross domestic product. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was also due to speak.