European markets were lower Friday, rounding off a choppy first week of the new year.
The Stoxx 600 was down 0.9% at 12 p.m. London time as all sectors fell in to the red. Retail stocks fell 1.9% to lead losses after data showed German retail sales dropped far more than expected in November.
EUROPEAN MARKETS
TICKER | COMPANY | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
---|---|---|---|---|
.FTSE | FTSE 100 | 7650.02 | -73.05 | -0.95 |
.GDAXI | DAX | 16473.19 | -144.1 | -0.87 |
.FCHI | CAC 40 Index | 7365.42 | -85.21 | -1.14 |
.FTMIB | FTSE MIB | 30214.55 | -189.41 | -0.62 |
.IBEX | IBEX 35 Idx | 10074.5 | -107.9 | -1.06 |
The pan-European index gained 0.7% on Thursday, following two negative sessions. Stock markets in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific have had a mostly negative start to 2024, with the major Wall Street averages on course to snap nine-week winning runs.
Euro zone inflation climbed to an annual 2.9% in December from 2.4% the previous month, initial flash estimates showed on Friday, though came in just below a 3% forecast from a Reuters poll of economists.
In the U.S., investors will be assessing whether the December jobs report indicates the economy is cooling enough to allow for interest rate cuts, but not so much as to signal economic distress. The Dow Jones estimate is for a nonfarm payrolls gain of 170,000.