By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets were on track to
snap a two-day winning streak on Thursday.
The move down comes as a mixed bag of data was released,
including weaker-than-expected inflation for Germany, coupled with
surprisingly strong unemployment numbers for the country.
Markets had opened in positive territory, but started to head
lower in mid-morning trade as U.S. stock futures indicated another
downbeat day on Wall Street. U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday
after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would end its asset-purchase
program.
Market reaction: The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.2% to 328.08,
after closing at a three-week high on Wednesday.
Italy's FTSE MIB posted one of the biggest slides, down 0.9% to
18,978.25, with banks on the decline. Shares of Banca Monte dei
Paschi di Siena SpA lost 16%, and Banco Popolare SC gave up 3%.
France's CAC 40 index fell 0.2% to 4,100.66, while Germany's DAX
30 index gave up 0.8% to 9,008.26. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index
slumped 0.5% to 6,419.77.
Data: Germany saw both some good and some bad news on the data
front on Thursday. Inflation for October came in weaker than
expected at 0.8% year-over-year, but stable from September's level.
Economists had widely expected consumer prices to have risen 0.9%.
On a EU-harmonized level, inflation slowed to 0.7%, down from 0.8%
in September.
Meanwhile, joblessness in Germany unexpectedly dropped in
October, with the number of unemployed people falling by 22,000.
However, it wasn't enough to also push the unemployment rate lower,
which stayed at 6.7%.
"Headline data from Germany's buoyant labor market give little
indication that the economic rough patch is having an impact on
jobs. Instead, signs of labor-market tightness get stronger," said
Christian Schulz, senior economist at Berenberg, in a note.
Spain's gross domestic product expanded by 0.5% in the third
quarter, according to preliminary data, signaling that the recovery
in the eurozone's fourth-largest economy is on track. Meanwhile,
Spanish consumer prices fell 0.2% on the year in October, an
improvement from the 0.3% drop recorded in September.
Major movers: Alcatel-Lucent SA rallied 14% after the
network-equipment maker said it narrowed its loss in the third
quarter.
Novo Nordisk AS (NVO) added 5% after the world's largest insulin
maker reported a rise in profit and revenue.
Linde AG slumped 4.2% after the industrial-gases company warned
it will miss key targets this year due to impairments and adverse
currency effects.
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