(RTTNews) – European actions were carried out mixed on Thursday, as investors remained largely cautious and reacted to quarterly earnings and other trading reports, as well as subsequent advances on geopolitical and coronavirus fronts.
Investors also digested data on industry negotiations between Britain and the EU. Talks with Brussels reportedly said an agreement with London is unlikely due to differences between the two parties on key issues, and added promises of fair competition. Discussions are expected to resume next week.
The main markets in the region had a fairly long and intelligent era in positive territory today, but continued to decline after noon and, even though it all ended unchanged.
The pan-European Stoxx six-hundred index rose 0.06%. The UK’s FTSE 100 ended by 0.07%, while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 fell by 0.01% and 0.07%, respectively. The SMI of Switzerland finished by 0.53%.
Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia and Turkey closed upwards, while Ireland, Spain and Sweden ended unchanged.
Melrose, with a drop of more than 14%, the biggest loser in the FTSE hundred index. Informa, Centrica, Royal Bank, Relx, Rolls-Royce Holdings, IAG, Ds Smith, TUI and British Land Company lost 2.5 to 4.3%.
In contrast, Unilever rose more than 8% and The Sage Group climbed by only about 7%. Ocado, WPP, Diageo, Smurfit Kappa Group, Glencore, Polymetal International and Fresnillo climbed 2 to 3.1%.
In Germany, Wirecard gave up 3.7%. Munich RE, Deutsche Bank, Allianz, Lufthansa and Infineon Technologies fell 1 to 2%.
BMW won 2%. Continental, Bayer, Beiersdorf, Linde and Thyssenkrupp were the notable winners.
In France, Publicis Groupe shares rose by almost 9%. The world’s third-largest advertising company exceeded underlying sales expectations in the quarter and said it continued to record profits in new businesses around the world.
Renault finished with 7% and Worldline won 4%. Pernod Ricard won almost 3% after the company raised its biological profit outlook for fiscal year 20. Peugeot, Valeo and ArcelorMittal also made great strating progress.
By contrast, Dassault Systemes Group, Safran, Airbus, Accor and Technip fell sharply.
For the EU, the flash client confidence index showed a read of -15.6, unchanged since June. In May, the score -19.5.
German customer confidence is expected to increase in August, according to the study of market research organization GfK. The report indicates that the future customer confidence index rose to -0.3 numbers since -9.4 revised in July. The expected reading was -5.0.
Gfk said German customers were gradually putting the surprise of the coronavirus at the start of the year for them. Lately a V-shaped trend has emerged for the customer’s climate.
While economic expectations advanced slightly, the source of income expectations and propensity to buy is higher, particularly for the third time in a row. The economic expectations index rose 2.1 emissions to 10.6 in July. At the same time, the source indicator of revenue expectations increased to 18.6 in July from 6.6 in June. Meanwhile, the propensity to buy increased 23.1 emissions to 42.5 in July.
British brands expect production to resume in the coming months for the first time since the Covid-19 crisis hit the economy, the British Confederation of Industry’s quarterly trade trends survey showed.
According to the survey, production volumes decreased in the quarter ending in July, and the balance fell to -59% from -57% in June. At the same time, the balance of the order book declined at the fastest rate since October 1980. The indicator came here at -60% to -25% in April.