(MENAFN– ecpulse)
European stock markets were mixed to mostly lower on Thursday morning session, following the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index’s largest two-day rally in 11 months, as investors awaited a report on U.S. personal spending after yesterday’s disappointing growth data.
European shares rebounded from the sharp sell-off on Wednesday as optimism remain spread throughout the local stock market as China’s cash crunch eased while weaker-than-expected U.S. economic growth data eased speculation the Federal Reserve will start slowing monetary stimulus any time soon.
The U.S. government slashed its estimates for the first-quarter economic growth to a 1.8 percent annual rate, down from a previous estimate of 2.4 percent. Figures came a day after upbeat reports the previous day on durable goods orders, sales of new homes, home prices and consumer confidence.
Investors will closely watch U.S. data due later in the day for more clues on the Federal Reserve next step. Consumer spending in the U.S. probably rose at the fastest pace in three months and jobless claims probably declined.
- STOXX Europe 600 dropped 0.20 percent or 0.58 points to 283.96
- Euro Stoxx 50 declined 0.37 percent or 9.376 points to 2,593.05
Closer home, final numbers from national office for statistics confirmed Britain’s economy expanded in the first quarter 2013, rebounding from slump at the end of last year. However, annualized GDP was downwardly revised a rate of 0.3 percent, trailing analysts forecast of GDP to remain unchanged at 0.6 percent.
Confidence in the Eurozone showed further upticks on Thursday following jobs data from the euro area largest economy.
Reports showed labor market conditions in Germany advanced in June, offering positive support to the recovery, where unemployment Change dropped unexpectedly by 12 thousand, while jobless rate holds at 6.8 percent.
European confidence started to pick up in the single currency block in June as data showed today where indicators generally improved. Economic confidence index for the euro area rose to 91.3 from the revised 89.5, analysts expected 90.4, while consumer confidence index remained unchanged at -18.8 as expected.
- British FTSE 100 inched 0.41% up to 6,190.73
- France`s CAC 40 was down 0.26% to 3,716.26
- German DAX lost 0.02% to 7,939.77
Meanwhile, differing views on coping with youth unemployment are set to divide European Union leaders at a two-day summit in Brussels. However, finance ministers agreed on who will have to pay first when it comes to future bank bailouts.
After a seven-hour meeting, EU finance ministers agreed on a deal about future bank bailouts and who is liable to pay for them. According to EU banking rules, shareholders, bondholders and depositors with more than 100,000 euros could end up with the burden of saving failing banks.
Euro remained higher on Thursday, pushing the EURUSD pair to trade at 1.3014, after recording a low of 1.3004, and a high of 1.3040.
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