Investing.com - European stock markets were mixed on Wednesday, as a string of disappointing economic data from the euro zone added to concerns over the region’s debt crisis while investors eyed the release of a key employment report from the U.S. later in the day.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.21%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.63%, while Germany’s DAX 30 added 0.20%.
Market sentiment waned after the final euro zone manufacturing data for April came in weaker-than-expected, with the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index slumping to a 34-month low of 45.9 in April, down from 47.7 in March and below the preliminary estimate of 46.0.
German manufacturing output fell at the fastest rate since July 2009, with its manufacturing PMI tumbling to 46.2, from 48.4 in March, while a separate report showed that the German unemployment rate also rose last month.
A separate report showed that the unemployment rate in the euro zone rose to a fresh record high of 10.9% in March.
In Italy, official data showed that the unemployment rate unexpectedly jumped to 9.8% for March, the highest level since the current index began in 2004, from 9.3% the previous month.
Financial stocks were mixed, trimming earlier gains, as shares in French lender Societe Generale rose 0.78%, while BNP Paribas tumbled 1.78%. In Germany, Deutsche Bank plummeted 1.52% and Commerzbank plunged 2.26%.
On the upside, UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, surged 4.24% after first-quarter profit fell 54% on a loss at the investment bank and an accounting charge related to the company’s own debt.
Adding to gains, STMicroelectronics, Europe’s biggest semiconductor maker, rallied 3.15% after Goldman Sachs Group advised clients to buy the shares and Citigroup said investors should hold them rather than sell.
In London, FTSE 100 dropped 0.60%, after data showed that U.K. construction sector activity declined less-than-expected in April.
Financial stocks led losses with Barclays plunging 2.37% and Lloyds Banking retreating 2.01%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland lost 0.59% and HSBC Holdings eased 0.01%.
Elsewhere, BAE Systems Plc, Europe’s largest defense company, tumbled 1.52% after saying it sees a modest growth in underlying earnings per share in 2012 as trading in the first four months of the year met its expectations.
Meanwhile, BSkyB remained one of the session’s top gainers, jumping 1.99%, a day after Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation owns 39% of BSkyB, was said to be “an unfit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company,” by a committee of British parliamentarians on Tuesday.
British Sky Broadcasting Group was also on the upside, climbing 2.03% after the U.K.’s biggest pay-TV operator said operating profit in the nine months ending in March rose 20%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to fall of 0.20%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.24% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.25% loss.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce a report on non-farm employment change, followed by government data on factory orders and crude oil stockpiles.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.21%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.63%, while Germany’s DAX 30 added 0.20%.
Market sentiment waned after the final euro zone manufacturing data for April came in weaker-than-expected, with the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index slumping to a 34-month low of 45.9 in April, down from 47.7 in March and below the preliminary estimate of 46.0.
German manufacturing output fell at the fastest rate since July 2009, with its manufacturing PMI tumbling to 46.2, from 48.4 in March, while a separate report showed that the German unemployment rate also rose last month.
A separate report showed that the unemployment rate in the euro zone rose to a fresh record high of 10.9% in March.
In Italy, official data showed that the unemployment rate unexpectedly jumped to 9.8% for March, the highest level since the current index began in 2004, from 9.3% the previous month.
Financial stocks were mixed, trimming earlier gains, as shares in French lender Societe Generale rose 0.78%, while BNP Paribas tumbled 1.78%. In Germany, Deutsche Bank plummeted 1.52% and Commerzbank plunged 2.26%.
On the upside, UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, surged 4.24% after first-quarter profit fell 54% on a loss at the investment bank and an accounting charge related to the company’s own debt.
Adding to gains, STMicroelectronics, Europe’s biggest semiconductor maker, rallied 3.15% after Goldman Sachs Group advised clients to buy the shares and Citigroup said investors should hold them rather than sell.
In London, FTSE 100 dropped 0.60%, after data showed that U.K. construction sector activity declined less-than-expected in April.
Financial stocks led losses with Barclays plunging 2.37% and Lloyds Banking retreating 2.01%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland lost 0.59% and HSBC Holdings eased 0.01%.
Elsewhere, BAE Systems Plc, Europe’s largest defense company, tumbled 1.52% after saying it sees a modest growth in underlying earnings per share in 2012 as trading in the first four months of the year met its expectations.
Meanwhile, BSkyB remained one of the session’s top gainers, jumping 1.99%, a day after Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation owns 39% of BSkyB, was said to be “an unfit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company,” by a committee of British parliamentarians on Tuesday.
British Sky Broadcasting Group was also on the upside, climbing 2.03% after the U.K.’s biggest pay-TV operator said operating profit in the nine months ending in March rose 20%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to fall of 0.20%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.24% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.25% loss.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce a report on non-farm employment change, followed by government data on factory orders and crude oil stockpiles.