UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

European stocks on Wednesday were dragged lower, as investors received disappointing updates on manufacturing and services activity in the eurozone and saw a break in the recovery run for U.S. stocks.

How markets are moving

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.8% to 377.60 as only the telecommunications group posted a small gain. Tech and utility stocks were losing the most. On Tuesday, the benchmark rose 0.6%. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-struggle-as-hsbc-bhp-billiton-updates-disappoint-2018-02-20)

Germany's DAX 30 index fell 0.7% to 12,401.35, and Spain's IBEX 35 dropped 1% to 9,799.40.

France's CAC 40 gave up 0.6% at 5,256.65, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.3% at 7,223.53.

Check out: More investors looking to cut U.K. assets as Brexit uncertainty persists (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/more-investors-looking-to-cut-uk-assets-as-brexit-uncertainty-persists-2018-02-16)

The euro bought $1.2324, down from $1.2339 late Tuesday in New York.

The yield on the 10-year German bond fell 3 basis points to 0.70%, according to Tradeweb. Yields fall when prices rise.

What's driving markets

Stocks across the continent opened lower, as the session got underway with preliminary February manufacturing and services data from France falling short of expectations. That followed figures from data firm Markit showing German manufacturing activity at a six-month low, and overall activity in the eurozone edged back from a near 12-year high.

European stocks also followed losses on Wall Street, where equities have been in recovery mode after leading a meltdown in global equities. U.S. stocks snapped a six-day winning streak (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-futures-fall-more-than-100-points-signaling-jittery-return-to-trading-2018-02-20) on the market's return from holiday Tuesday, as 10% slide in shares of retailer Walmart Inc. (WMT) hurt the S&P 500 Index .

After European trade closes, minutes from the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting, the last chaired by Janet Yellen, will be released. Investors will look for clues to the central bank's thinking on interest rates, which can have a knock-on effect on global financial markets. The minutes are due 2 p.m. Eastern Time, or 7 p.m. London time.

Stock movers

Lloyds Banking Group PLC shares (LLOY.LN) rose 1.7% after the lender said it's launching a share buyback of up to GBP1 billion ($1.40 billion) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lloyds-launches-1-billion-buyback-2017-profit-up-2018-02-21). In the bank's first full-year results since returning to full private ownership, pretax profit of GBP5.28 billion for 2017 missed expectations of GBP5.89 billion.

Glencore PLC shares (GLEN.LN) rallied 4%. The miner and commodities trader posted a more than fourfold rise in 2017 net profit for 2017 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/glencore-profit-up-fourfold-for-2017-beats-views-2018-02-21), of $5.78 billion, and said it was considering acquisitions.

Economic data

The U.K.'s jobless rate increased unexpectedly for the first time in nearly two years (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-jobless-rate-unexpectedly-increases-2018-02-21), to 4.4% in the final quarter of 2017. The Office for National Statistics also said wages in the three months to December grew by an average 2.5%, slightly up from 2.4% in the January period. But wage growth is still outpaced by inflation which is running at 3%.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 21, 2018 05:21 ET (10:21 GMT)

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