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European markets dip amid downbeat growth signals out of Germany and France
[MarketWatch] European markets traded lower on Monday, as investors failed to shake a hangover from last week’s selloff, with fresh signs of slowing growth in Germany and France, adding to the worries. Among individual stocks, BASF AG tumbled on a profit warning.A decline for sterling gave the FTSE 100 a lift after a report a key parliamentary vote on Brexit has been canceled. What is driving the market? Sterling slid after a midday report from Bloomberg that U.K. Prime Minister May would cancel a key parliamentary vote expected Tuesday on her Brexit plan for and reschedule it. A stronger pound can weigh on the FTSE 100, as the index’s multinational companies generate most of their sales in other currencies, and the reverse works true as well. Earlier Monday, the European Court of Justice ruled on Monday that the U.K. could officially cancel Brexit without the permission of the other 27 EU member states. On the economic front, Germany’s Federal Statistical Office released showing that the county’s trade surplus with the rest of the world narrowed. Blaming protests across the country that have cut into industrial production for a number of sectors, the Bank of France said the French economy will grow slower than originally projected. Global growth concerns and worries that the U.S. and China will struggle to meet common ground on trade were also hanging over stocks, with U.S. stock futures lower, while weaker oil prices also weighed on heavyweight energy companies. Posted by: Besoeker 2018-12-10 |
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