European stocks flipped lower in early trade Thursday, hovering around their lowest level since mid-February, in the wake of a new round of disappointing economic data from China.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.2% at 327.45.
Investors are also looking ahead to U.S. figures that will gauge the pace of retail sales, which may grown modestly in February.
Among country-specific indexes, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1 % to 6,617.4, France’s CAC 40 index swung higher by 0.2% to 4,313.50, and Germany’s DAX 30 index picked up 0.1% at 9,200.7.
Trading in Berlin, stock in Deutsche Lufthansa AG flew nearly 6% higher after the German airline said it will resume dividend payments.
Volkswagen AG shares were up 3.5%, off intraday lows, after the European automaking heavyweight said it expects an increase of up to 3% in sales and a moderate increase in deliveries this year. The company’s net profit for 2013 fell 58%.
Morrison slumped 6.3% as it said it will sell 1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) in property over the next three years after forecasting a third straight decline in pretax profit.
J Sainsbury Plc fell 6.1% and Tesco Plc dropped 2.7%.
Delhaize Group fell 4.7% after predicting lower profitability in Belgium.
Adecco lost 6.9%. Jacobs Holding AG sold 30.2 million shares for 71.50 francs each. Adecco jumped 4.5% yesterday after posting profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates.
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий