EUROPE MARKETS: Germany's DAX Ends Lower As Eurozone Business Activity Slows
February 21 2018 - 12:31PM
Dow Jones News
By Carla Mozee and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
Spain's IBEX also drops, but Stoxx Europe 600 gains
Germany's stock benchmark finished lower Wednesday, while other
major European indexes closed mostly higher, as investors received
disappointing updates on manufacturing and services activity in the
eurozone.
How markets moved
Germany's DAX 30 index dipped 0.1% to end at 12,470.49, and
Spain's IBEX 35 dropped 0.7% to close at 9,823.30.
On the upside, the Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.2% to finish at
381.10, and France's CAC 40 added 0.2% to 5,302.17. The U.K.'s FTSE
100 gained 0.5% to end at 7,281.57
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-slips-as-gains-for-lloyds-glencore-fail-to-spread-cheer-2018-02-21),
boosted by advances for miners.
On Tuesday, Europe's main benchmarks all scored gains.
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-struggle-as-hsbc-bhp-billiton-updates-disappoint-2018-02-20)
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 $1.2314, down from $1.2339 late Tuesday in New
York.
The yield on the 10-year German bond recently was down 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
under way 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 a 10% slide in
shares of retailer Walmart Inc. (WMT) hurt the S&P 500 index .
U.S. stocks were rallying on Wednesday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-futures-inch-lower-as-investors-brace-for-fed-minutes-2018-02-21)
about halfway through their session.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting, the
last chaired by Janet Yellen, will be released later Wednesday.
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.
Read more:5 things to watch in the Fed minutes
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/five-things-to-watch-in-the-fed-minutes-2018-02-20)
Stock movers
Lloyds Banking Group PLC shares (LLOY.LN) rose 2.8% 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 5.2%. 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 12:16 ET (17:16 GMT)
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