Forex Pros – European stock markets were broadly lower on Thursday, as violence in Libya continued and oil prices spiked to a 30-month high, while U.S. futures indexes pointed to a higher open on Wall Street.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.53%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 0.42%, while Germany’s DAX was down 0.95%.
Oil prices rallied for a sixth day, with U.S. crude climbing past USD100 for the first time since October 2008 amid concerns over a disruption to supplies from Libya, which holds Africa’s largest crude oil reserves.
Shares in the airline sector performed poorly on concern higher fuel costs would weigh on profits.
Europe’s largest airliner Deutsche Lufthansa saw shares drop 3.01%, shares in Air France-KLM slumped 1.55%, while shares in discount airliner RyanAir tumbled 2.04%.
Meanwhile, Europe’s fifth largest utility provider RWE saw shares plunge 5.5% after it said that 2010 net income fell 7.4% from a year earlier. The company lowered its 2011 full-year earnings outlook, citing “the burdens the energy industry”.
Shares in Europe’s largest insurer Allianz lost 3.05% after it reported fourth quarter net income of EUR1.14 billion, short of market expectations for net income of EUR1.20 billion.
Also Thursday, shares in Porsche plunged 9.11% after the automaker said its planned merger with Volkswagen would likely be delayed and that the chances of the deal happening at all will fall if the delays are “substantial”. Shares in VW dropped 2.99% following the news.
In London, the FTSE 100 declined 0.51% as shares in the financial sector led markets lower after Royal Bank of Scotland reported fourth quarter earnings that trailed analysts’ expectations.
Following the results, RBS saw shares tumble 3.76%, rival Barclays slumped 1.55%, while HSBC Holdings saw shares fall 1.17%.
The outlook for U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, was broadly lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a loss of 0.47%, S&P 500 futures indicated a drop 0.65%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.64%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish reports on durable goods orders and initial jobless claims, as well as data on new home sales.
ForexPros.com
