European shares fall on France downgrade, US jobs report in focus . . . . . . . . . . . European stock markets opened lower Friday as Standard & Poor’s lowered France’s credit rating, and as markets eagerly await the U.S. October jobs report. - Stoxx 600 lost 0.62 percent or 2.00 points to 321.23 The index is headed towards its longest winning weakly streak this year. The Stoxx 600 closed little changed yesterday as an unexpected European Central Bank interest rate cut pointed to prolonged weak growth in the region and stronger U.S. economic data fueled speculation the Federal Reserve may reduce the pace of its bond buying in the coming meetings. - Stoxx 50 dropped 0.75% to 3020.22 . As of 04.02 a.m. EST. The Euro continued dropping after Standard & Poor’s slashed France’s sovereign credit rating. France’s long-term foreign and local-currency credit rating was lowered one step to AA from AA+ by S&P today. The ratings company said slower growth will constrain the government’s ability to improve public finances. The outlook is stable, while the short-term ratings were affirmed at ‘A-1”, S&P said. On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1 percent, the S&P 500 took its worst hit in ten weeks and the NASDAQ skidded 2 percent after stronger-than-expected U.S. third-quarter growth data fuelled fears of early Fed tapering. In the U.S., a report at 8:30 a.m. ET may show that employers in the world’s largest economy added fewer workers in October and the jobless rate rose for the first time in five months. Payrolls are expected to have increased by 120,000 last month following a 148,000 gain in September. The unemployment rate climbed to 7.3 percent from 7.2 percent, economists projected. The Fed said it would ‘‘await more evidence’’ that the economy was improving before starting to pull back its stimulus program. While the Fed’s latest decision was mostly expected by investors, its comments that there was underlying strength in the broader economy seemed to have sparked fears in the market that the tapering could be brought forward. As for earnings, results are expected from insurer Allianz, telecom firms Telecom Italia and Telefonica, the International Airlines Group, carmaker Rolls Royce and luxury goods firm Richemont. Allianz SE may be active as Europe’s biggest insurer raised its full-year earnings goal after third-quarter profit exceeded projections. Telefonica SA and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA may also move after posting results. -The British FTSE 100 lost 0.51% or 34.03 points to 6663.21 -The French CAC 40 lost 0.84% or 36.04 to 4244.95 -Frankfurt’s DAX 30 lost 0.65% or 59.92 points to 9660.40 #egyptyard
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 13:11:39 +0000
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