European Stocks Recoup Early Losses to Trade Mixed

August 4, 2017
European Stocks Recoup Early Losses to Trade Mixed

By Investors Hub

European shares have recouped early losses to trade mixed on Thursday as a slew of upbeat earnings results and encouraging regional data helped offset caution ahead of the US jobs report on Friday.

While the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent and the UK’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.7 percent.

The Bank of England kept its record low interest rate unchanged in a split vote, as expected, and maintained the size of monetary stimulus.

The Monetary Policy Committee, headed by Governor Mark Carney, voted 6 to 2 to keep the interest rate at a historic low of 0.25 percent.

The bank downgraded its economic growth projections for 2017 to 1.7 percent from 1.9 percent and for 2018 to 1.6 percent from 1.7 percent. The outlook for 2019 was maintained at 1.8 percent.

UniCredit shares have jumped after the Italian bank posted strong profits for the second quarter, thanks to lower costs and higher fee income.

Retailer Next Plc has also advanced in London after posting sales growth in the second quarter and announcing a special quarterly dividend.

Gold producer Randgold Resources has climbed after solid first-half numbers. German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom has also risen after its second quarter profit topped forecasts.

On the flip side, British satellite operator Inmarsat has tumbled after its first-half sales growth slowed. Siemens shares have also fallen after the German industrial group said it plans to float its healthcare unit in the first half of 2018.

In economic news, a report from Eurostat showed that Eurozone retail sales grew unexpectedly in June. Retail sales climbed 0.5 percent from May.

Separately, final survey results from IHS Markit revealed that the Eurozone private sector grew at the slowest pace in six months in July. The final composite output index fell to 55.7 from 56.3 in June.

The UK service sector expanded again in July, with IHS Markit’s headline index rising to 53.8 from 53.4 in June. The score was forecast to rise moderately to 53.6.

Modupe Gbadeyanka

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

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