The German market is notably lower on Friday as investors took to profit taking after four days of gains. Sentiment was also impacted by apprehensions before banking stocks kick off the earnings season in the U.S.
The two-day meeting of European Union finance ministers begins in Dublin where officials will finalize the bailout package for Cyprus and consider extending debt repayment dates for Portugal and Ireland. Meanwhile, reports indicated that Cyprus might ask for additional funds of as much as 10 billion euros.
Eurozone’s industrial production increased at a faster-than-expected rate in February, recovering from the previous month’s contraction, data released by Eurostat showed. Industrial production increased 0.4 percent on a monthly basis, reversing the revised 0.6 percent decrease seen in January. Economists had forecast output to grow 0.2 percent.
A leading indicator of the British economy increased for the second straight month in February, signaling the potential for a modest recovery in the economy later this year, a survey by the Conference Board showed.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is falling 1.09 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is losing 0.44 percent.
The DAX index is currently declining 1.2 percent.
Volkswagen is falling 3.8 percent. Daimler and BMW are dropping 2.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
K+S is losing 2.8 percent. The chemicals firm was reduced to ”Sell” from ”Hold” at Deutsche Bank.
Societe Generale initiated HeidelbergCement with a ”Buy” rating. The stock is moderately lower.
Duerr is gaining 2.5 percent. UBS initiated the stock with a ”Buy” rating.
Elsewhere in Europe, the French CAC 40 is losing 0.7 percent and the UK’s FTSE 100 is falling 0.5 percent. Switzerland’s SMI is dropping 0.3 percent.
Across Asia/Pacific, stocks ended mostly lower amid profit-taking. China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6 percent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.5 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.1 percent. Bucking the trend, Australia’s All Ordinaries advanced 0.1 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street, ahead of data on retail sales, producer prices and consumer sentiment.
In the previous session, stocks extended recent gains, with some upbeat initial jobless claims data and a set of better-than-expected March sales from retailers buoying investor confidence, even as weakness among tech stocks limited the upside for the markets. The Dow and the S&P 500 rose about 0.4 percent each to fresh record highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged up 0.1 percent
In the commodity space, crude for May delivery is losing $1.19 to $92.32 per barrel and June gold is falling $16.1 to $1548.8 a troy ounce.
by RTT Staff Writer
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