Market Update
European markets were lower Thursday tracking a choppy session in Asia and as tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine continued to worry investors.
The FTSE was down 0.4%. The CAC 40 Paris edged down 0.2% while the German DAX was off 0.1%.
U.S. President Barack Obama said late Wednesday Russia’s actions were to be condemned and warned of increasing isolation. The U.S. and the European Union agreed Wednesday to work together to prepare tougher sanctions after Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.
Banks were in focus after a number of lenders failed to meet the U.S. Federal Reserve’s stress test.
Retail sales data is due from the U.K. slightly later.
Later in the day, the U.S. is due to publish final fourth quarter GDP figures, weekly jobless claims data, and a report on pending home sales.
Stocks on the Move
Lloyds Banking Group edged 0.1% lower while RBS was down 1.1%. Barclays was also down about a percent while HSBC declined half a percent.
Babcock International Group was down 4% after the company agreed to buy private-equity owned Avincis for 920 million pounds, including a net debt of 705 million pounds. The company is set to carry out a rights offering to help fund the deal.
Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz fell 4% after the company reported quarterly profit below analysts' estimates.
BNP Paribas was down a percent while Societe Generale edged down 0.2%. Fitch Ratings revised SocGen’s outlook to Negative while reaffirming its A+ rating for BNP Paribas.
Deutsche Bank was down half a percent also after Fitch revised the German lender’s outlook to Negative from Stable.
United Internet surged over 5% in Frankfurt after the company reported a healthy profit growth for 2013 and raised dividend.