Market Update
European markets edged lower Thursday with socks mostly moving on earnings related news.
The FTSE was down 0.3%. The CAC 40 Paris slipped 0.1% while the German DAX was down 0.3%.
Producer price inflation in Germany fell unexpectedly last month, official data showed earlier.
Fighting in Ukraine weighed on sentiment as confrontations continued between the country’s acting government and pro-Russian separatists.
Stocks on the Move
RBS and HSBC edged 0.1% lower each while Barclays was down half a percent. Lloyds Banking gained 0.7%.
Miners were also lower with Vedanta Resources down 1.3% and Aussie majors BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto down 0.8% each, respectively.
Auto stocks were higher after registrations data published earlier Thursday showed car sales continued to recover.
Renault SA was up 2.1% while Peugeot revved 1.3% higher.
Remy Cointreau dropped about 6% after it warned full-year operating profit would drop between 35 -40%.
German enterprise software major SAP AG fell 3.3% after it too said second quarter results could be depressed due to volatile exchange rates.
Elsewhere, shares in Europe’s largest biotech firm Actelion rose 1.3% after the company posted forecast beating earnings and also said it may raise its earnings guidance mid-year.