(MENAFN– ecpulse)
European shares slipped on Thursday midday trading after downbeat euro area confidence data amid escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia.
A report released today showed that euro area economic confidence dropped to 100.6 in August from a revised of 102.1, coming below analysts’ estimates of 101.5.
Data from Germany also showed an unexpected rise in unemployment in August.
The European Central Bank said it hired BalckRock Inc, the world’s biggest money manager to give advice regarding the design and implementation of a potential ABS-purchase program.
Later in the day, attention will shift to U.S. initial jobless claims for last week and second quarter GDP (second reading).
On the political front, just one day after Russian and Ukrainian leaders met in Minsk to find a way to ease the ongoing fights, military leaders in Ukraine charged that Russia was deepening its intervention in Ukrainian territory by sending new troops to the southeast border.
As of 06:44 EST, STOXX EUROPE 600 slipped 0.83% to record 340.47 points. Materials led the decline with a drop of 1.56%, where the largest losses were recorded by Ocado Group PLC as its shares plummeted 13.28% to 350.00 GBP.
The largest gains, on the other hand, were led by Essilor INTL as its equities rose 4.59% to 79.74 EUR.
Regarding other major European indices, France’s CAC 40 index retreated 0.91% to 4355.18 points, and FTSE 100 decreased 0.47% to 6798.41 points. Germany`s DAX 30 plummeted 1.48% to 9427.75 points.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.