European stock exchanges recorded mild corrections in stock prices on Friday in anticipation of key U.S. economic data and due to the weakening of EADS shares following the release of business results.
The London FTSE index lost 0.4 percent, dropping to 6,203 points. The Frankfurt DAX index weakened by about 0.6 percent, to 6,671 points. EADS shares fell by 2.6 percent after reporting a significantly reduced profit due to losses at European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The operating profit of the European aerospace consortium plummeted last year by 86 percent, to 399 million euros.
“We are still in the midst of corrections,” said Thomas Gruener, an analyst at Landesbank in Berlin. “Burdening factors, such as the developments in the world’s largest economy, remain present.” The markets will therefore, he said, focus on the latest U.S. economic indicators, while those investors who participated in the mild recovery over the past few days will now slow down their activities. The pharmaceutical sector was impacted by Goldman Sachs’ decision to downgrade the investment rating of shares in that European industry.
He explained his decision by the prospects of stricter regulation and growing political pressures related to generics in the U.S., which could affect investments. Novartis shares, leading the losers, fell by 2.3 percent. Furthermore, losses were also recorded in the mining sector. Shares of Antofagasta, Xstrata, and Rio Tinto weakened by one percent due to falling copper prices.
Investors are focused on the release of U.S. data, expecting that the employment figure for February will show around 100,000 new jobs created, which should help maintain the unemployment rate at 4.6 percent. The Tokyo Stock Exchange Nikkei strengthened by 0.43 percent, finishing this week’s trading at 17,164 points. (H)
