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European stocks fell on Friday to hit a two-week low as falling commodity prices and a global tech sell-off dented sentiment. <\/p>\n
A host of factors such as deepening Sino-U.S. trade tensions, lingering uncertainty over U.S. President Joe Biden’s path to victory in the presidential race, a lack of Chinese stimulus measures to revive growth and a widespread Microsoft outage that hit services from airlines, banks and financial services curbed investors’ appetite for risk. <\/p>\n
On the data front, U.K. retail sales logged a notable decline in June amid election uncertainty and poor weather, data showed.<\/p>\n
Retail sales decreased 1.2 percent month-on-month in June, in contrast to the 2.9 percent increase posted in May, the Office for National Statistics said. Sales were expected to log a moderate 0.4 percent fall.<\/p>\n
Separately, a monthly survey from GfK showed that British consumer sentiment improved in July. The consumer confidence index rose to -13 in July from -14 in June. <\/p>\n
The euro area current account balance showed a surplus of EUR 37 billion in May, which was unchanged from the previous month.<\/p>\n
The pan European STOX 600 dipped half a percent to 511.50 after falling 0.2 percent on Thursday. <\/p>\n
The German DAX shed 0.8 percent, France’s CAC 40 gave up 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down half a percent. <\/p>\n
The euro traded weak following dovish comments from ECB officials.<\/p>\n
ECB Governing Council member and Bank of France President, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, said today there is more uncertainty on growth than a few months ago and that two additional interest-rate cuts in 2024 sound reasonable.<\/p>\n
Similarly, ECB Governing Council member Gediminas \u0160imkus also said he agreed with the idea of having two more cuts this year as markets<\/span> predict.<\/p>\n In corporate news, Electrolux AB, a Swedish home appliance major, surged 5.5 percent after it swung to a much larger than expected profit in the second quarter.<\/p>\n Danske Bank, Denmark’s biggest lender, soared 8 percent after second-quarter profit topped forecasts and the bank said it would return an expected 5.5 billion Danish kroner ($806.6 million) to shareholders later this year.<\/p>\n Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore all fell around 2 percent in London on Chinese demand concerns.<\/p>\n Warehouse giant SEGRO fell about 1 percent after selling a portfolio of four logistics warehouses in Italy for a total of \u20ac327 mln.<\/p>\n Germany’s Sartorius plunged 16 percent after the pharmaceutical equipment supplier cut its full-year guidance. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Business News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n