Forex Pros – European stock markets were broadly lower on Wednesday, as violence in Libya continued and oil prices spiked, while U.S. futures indexes pointed to a higher open on Wall Street.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.13%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 0.15%, while Germany’s DAX was down 0.37%.
Speaking in a televised address on Tuesday, Libya’s long ruling leader Muammar Qaddafi stated that he had no intention of stepping down or leaving the country, vowing to die a “martyrâ€.
Crude and Brent oil prices continued to rally, hovering near 2-and-a-half year highs amid fears over a disruption to oil supplies from the country.
Shares in the airline sector were broadly lower as a result of the sharp spike in oil prices. Europe’s largest airliner Deutsche Lufthansa saw shares drop 0.86%, shares in Air France-KLM slumped 1.15%, while shares in discount airliner easyJet tumbled 2.13%.
However, shares in the financial sector performed strongly after Commerzbank reported better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings results. Shares gained 0.55% in early trade.Â
Shares in French corporate and investment bank Natixis surged 4.36% after it reported fourth quarter earnings that topped forecasts.
Shares in rival Societe Generale climbed 0.97%, while Credit Agricole advanced 1.2%.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 declined 0.59% as oil producers led losses amid fears that unrest in Libya would disrupt oil supplies.
Shares in oil major Royal Dutch Shell sank 1.03%, rival British Petroleum saw shares drop 1.22%, while BHP Billiton fell 1.52%.
However, shares in U.K. banking giant Barclays jumped 0.75% after a U.S. judge ruled its purchase of Lehman Brothers Holdings’ brokerage was fair. Â
The outlook for U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, was broadly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a gain of 0.31%, S&P 500 futures indicated a rise of 0.37%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.31%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish industry data on existing home sales.
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