Traders sit in front of trading screens at ETX Capital in central London on January 3, 2017. London’s FTSE 100 reached a historic peak of 7,205.21 points in morning trade, surpassing the record seen in the last week of 2016, before retreating from a high.
Daniel Leal Afp | Getty Images
LONDON – European markets opened lower on Thursday, as investors awaited the latest euro zone inflation data and weighed the latest headline earnings from the region.
The Pan-European Stoxx 600 was last down 0.58% shortly after the market began trading, with most sectors and major regional exchanges starting the day in negative territory.
A closely watched preliminary eurozone inflation reading for October will tell the European Central Bank about the trajectory of its expected interest rate cuts.
Flash economic data published on Wednesday showed that the euro zone economy grew 0.4% in the third quarter of 2024, above the 0.2% increase expected by economists polled by Reuters.
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Shares of British banks rose on Friday afternoon after it appeared the first budget of the Labor government in nearly 15 years will end short of imposing a levy on the sector’s profits. Among the litany of tax increases announced to allow for more loans to boost investment, UK Rachel Reeves did not mention whether the government has plans to raise taxes on state banks.
US stocks were off on Wednesday as traders digested earnings results and data showing the economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the third quarter. GDP rose at an annual rate of 2.8%, while economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for an increase of 3.1%.
Overnight, US stock futures fell as Asia-Pacific markets edged lower as investors reacted to the Bank of Japan’s hold rate, as well as key business activity figures from China.
