By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Glencore falls after broker downgrade
European stocks dropped Monday, with the mining sector hit in
the wake of disappointing economic data from key resources buyer
China.
The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.6% to 394.69, losing grip of gains
at the open of trade. All but the technology, industrial and health
care sectors lost ground.
Energy and the basic resources sectors were the worst performing
at the start of the week. Miners, sensitive to China's economic
developments, received weak data over the weekend
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinas-economy-enters-second-half-of-2015-on-weak-note-2015-08-09)
with China saying exports in July fell 8.3% from a year earlier and
imports dropped 8.1%. On Sunday, the government said the
producer-price index marked its biggest year-over-year fall in
nearly six years.
The data were "nothing short of ugly and would indicate that a
7% GDP read is very much elusive," said Brenda Kelly, analyst at
London Capital Group, in a Monday note.
Shares of Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) fell 2.4%, Antofagasta PLC
(ANTO.LN) lost 2.3% and Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) fell 1.3%. Glencore
PLC (GLEN.LN)(GLEN.LN) fell 1.3% as Investec cut its rating on the
mining heavyweight to sell from buy.
The drops helped push the FTSE 100
(http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) lower by 0.7% to
6,672.91. Chinese stocks set aside the data, however, and logged
their biggest one-day gain in a month on expectations Beijing will
maintain its support
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinese-stocks-set-for-best-day-in-a-month-2015-08-10)
for the market.
In other moves, Germany's DAX 30 was off 1 point at 11,489.52
while France's CAC 40 clung to a 1 point gain at 5,155.86.
Greece's Athex Composite outperformed, rising 1% to 683.14. The
Greek government appeared closer to cinching a deal for a third
financial bailout following talks with creditors over the weekend
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-steps-closer-to-bailout-deal-as-ecb-deadline-nears-2015-08-10).
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