Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Investors Hub
European stocks are turning in a lackluster performance on Friday as traders weigh hopes of a possible breakthrough in the U.S.-China trade against the disappointing U.S. jobs data.
Sentiment was boosted after China’s central bank proposed to cut the reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 50 basis points in the latest effort to inject liquidity into an economy facing headwinds to growth.
While the German DAX Index is up by 0.5 percent, the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are nearly unchanged.
Thyssenkrupp shares have rallied after Finland’s Kone said it is considering teaming up with a private equity partner to bid for the German conglomerate’s elevator business.
Berkeley Group Holdings has also jumped in London after a positive trading update for the first four months of this new financial year.
Engineering business Weir Group is also posting a strong gain as it won a 100 million pounds order for Australian magnetite iron ore project.
Ashmore Group has also advanced after it delivered strong results for the year on the back of 24 percent AuM growth and continued investment outperformance.
In economic news, German industrial production fell 0.6 percent in July, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent, data from Destatis showed.
Eurostat data showed that Euro zone growth halved in the second quarter of this year. The region’s GDP grew 0.2 percent in the second quarter after a 0.4 percent expansion in the first three months of the year, as Germany’s economy shrank and trade as a whole slowed in the quarter.
Britons’ one-year inflation expectations rose in August, the latest quarterly Inflation Attitudes Survey from the Bank of England and TNS revealed.
Respondents forecast inflation to rise to 3.3 percent over the coming year compared to the previous forecast of 3.1 percent. Inflation is expected to ease to 3 percent in twelve months after one year.
