LEADING European stock markets fell sharply on Wednesday as dealers locked in profits from a technical spike a day earlier and investors took note of disappointing US economic data.
European equities had rallied in thin trading on Tuesday, with Frankfurt and Paris closing up almost 2.0 per cent each, after dealers returned to their desks from the Easter holiday weekend to digest developments over the Cyprus debt crisis.
But much of that was given up on Wednesday, when London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies closed with a loss of 1.08 per cent at 6,420.28 points.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 fell by 0.87 per cent to 7,874.74 points and in Paris the CAC 40 was off by 1.32 per cent at 3,754.96.
In Madrid, the Ibex 35 index shed 1.81 per cent to 7,904.3 points, in Milan the FTSE Mib slumped by 2.28 per cent to 15,200 points, and in Lisbon the PSI-20 index plunged by 3.54 per cent to 5,587.13 points amid uncertainty over an anticipated court ruling on the country's 2013 budget.
In general, analysts noted a gloomy atmosphere owing to figures which indicated a slowdown in the huge US services sector on top of weak employment prospects in the world's biggest economy, which together raised concerns about its recovery.
"US economic data hasn't been great," ETX Capital analyst Ishaq Siddiqi noted in London.
In New York, US stocks had opened higher before falling into the red with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off by 0.44 per cent at 14,597.41 points in midday trading.
The broad-based S&P 500 was down by 0.63 per cent at 1,560.30, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite showed a loss of 0.54 per cent to 3,237.34 points.
Back in Britain, Vodafone's share price dropped 3.05 per cent to 186.15 pence after the US telecommunications giant Verizon distanced itself from press speculation regarding a potential merger with the British group.
"As Verizon has said many times, it would be a willing purchaser of the 45 per cent stake that Vodafone holds in Verizon Wireless," the US company said in a statement.
"It does not, however, currently have any intention to merge with or make an offer for Vodafone, whether alone or in conjunction with others," Verizon said in a statement filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Various media reports had said that Verizon was mulling a joint attack with AT&T that would see the pair divide up Vodafone assets.
Market focus also remained firmly on Cyprus, with the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday agreeing to provide approximately one billion euros to the 10-billion-euro rescue plan for the cash-strapped eurozone nation.
This would be through a three-year 891-million-euro Special Drawing Rights loan, announced IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.
The European Central Bank (ECB) will meanwhile hold off from cutting rates or announcing any other policy moves at its meeting Thursday so as to keep up pressure on governments to solve the eurozone's crisis, analysts said.
The ECB has never hesitated to act as firefighter in the long-running crisis, which seemed to have abated until political gridlock in Italy and the crisis in Cyprus sent shockwaves through financial markets once again.
Also Thursday, the Bank of England is expected to vote to maintain both its record-low interest rate and level of cash stimulus as investors wait to see whether Britain's economy has re-entered a period of recession.
In foreign exchange trade Wednesday, the euro rose to $1.2852 from $1.2813 late in New York on Tuesday. Gold prices dropped to $1,574.75 an ounce from $1,583.50.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
European stocks drop on downbeat US data
Dengan url
http://sementarberita.blogspot.com/2013/04/european-stocks-drop-on-downbeat-us-data.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
European stocks drop on downbeat US data
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
European stocks drop on downbeat US data
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar