Investing.com - European stocks traded broadly lower in early morning trade on Thursday, following the trend set on Wall Street after the Dow dashed immediate hopes for busting 20,000 points by registering its second largest decline since the November 8 presidential elections.
During European morning trade, the Euro Stoxx 50 dropped 0.11%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.11%, while Germany’s DAX 30 traded down 0.33%.
Investors also took profit in the larger European Stoxx 600 after the index had closed Wednesday at its highest level in a year.
On a light economic calendar, the U.K. sawing housing prices rise 0.8% in December, well above the forecast 0.2% increase, while the annual change increased to 4.5% from a prior 4.4% advance, also beating expectations for a 3.8% gain.
The euro zone also saw the M3 money supply rise 4.8% in November, above expectations for a repeat 4.4% increase, as private sector loans rose 1.9%.
Meanwhile, oil prices edged slightly lower in light pre-New Year holiday trade on Thursday, as market players awaited fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 11:00AM ET (16:00GMT) Thursday, amid analyst expectations for a decline of 2.0 million barrels.
After markets closed Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories rose by 4.2 million barrels in the week ended December 23, surprising analysts who expected a 1.5-million-barrel decline.
In Europe, energy stocks were trading mixed, as French oil and gas major Total SA (PA:TOTF) advanced 0.13% and Italy’s ENI (MI:ENI) gained 0.52%, while Norwegian rival Statoil (OL:STL) dropped 0.13%.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) fell 0.71% and 1.01%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) traded down 1.52% and 1.20%, respectively.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) fell 1.15% and 0.93% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) saw losses of 0.56% and 0.47%.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 slipped 0.06%, after having hit a closing price record high in the prior session.
Shares in Glencore (LON:GLEN) were down 0.94% and Anglo American (LON:AAL) lost 0.26%, while BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) fell 0.84% and 0.58%, respectively.
Energy stocks showed mixed trade, as BP (LON:BP) inched up 0.05% and rival Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) slipped 0.10%.
Financial stocks were under selling pressure, with shares in HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) down 0.34% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) off 0.42%, while Barclays (LON:BARC) and Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) slumped 1.68% and 1.01% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a flat to lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 0.06%, S&P 500 futures dropped 0.03%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures gave up 0.09%.