Dipo Olowookere
By Investors Hub
European stocks are extending losses to drop near 20-month lows on Thursday as concerns about slowing global growth as well as worries over the impact of rising interest rates has dented investors’ appetite for riskier assets.
While the German DAX Index is down by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index are down by 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore have moved to the downside as base metal prices tumbled in Shanghai and London.
Oil giant BP Plc and Tullow Oil have also fallen sharply amid a continued drop by the price of crude oil.
Recruitment firm Hays Plc has plummeted as its first-quarter gross profit missed analyst estimates, hurt by a relatively stronger pound against rivals.
Financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown is also posting a steep loss after warning of an industry-wide slowdown.
Meanwhile, Ingenico shares have bucked the downtrend to rise more than 9 percent in Paris after Natixis said it is exploring a merger of its payments business with the French financial and payments firm.
Packaging and paper group Mondi has also advanced after it reported a 30 percent jump in third quarter underlying profits.
Dialog Semiconductor has soared on news the company has reached an agreement with Apple (AAPL) to license certain of its power management technologies and transfer certain of its assets and over 300 employees to Apple to support chip research and development.
In economic news, French consumer price inflation eased in September, the latest figures revealed, confirming the initial estimates.
The consumer price index rose 2.2 percent year-on-year following a 2.3 percent increase in August, statistical office INSEE said.
On a month-on-month basis, the consumer price index dropped 0.2 percent after a 0.5 percent rebound in August.
