European Markets Dropped On China Concerns & Fed Uncertainty

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Wednesday's session solidly in negative territory. Growing concern over China's economy continued to weigh on investor sentiment. The continued decrease in oil prices and the weak performance of the U.S. markets added to the negative mood.

Uncertainty ahead of the release of the minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve policy meeting also had investors playing it cautious. Investors will be watching for any clues regarding whether the Fed will begin raising interest rates at its next meeting in September.

Meanwhile, German lawmakers approved a third bailout of EUR 86 billion for Greece on Wednesday, which is likely to be finalized by Eurozone finance ministers later in the day, just in time to release funds to the latter to honor a payment to the European Central Bank due on August 20.

In the lower house, Bundestag, 454 members voted in favor and 113 rejected the bailout, while 18 abstained from the process.

A bitter debate on the Greek deal is underway in the Dutch parliament, but lawmakers are expected to back the bailout.

The three-year bailout for Greece was approved by Eurozone finance ministers last Friday. Athens has to pay EUR 3.2 billion to the ECB tomorrow. U.K. interest rates will rise "pretty soon" from their record low levels and indicates a sign of health for the economy, Bank of England policymaker David Miles said Tuesday.

In an interview to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Miles, who is set to retire this month, said, "I don't think it's anything to worry about, it's a sign of health."

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased by 1.85 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 1.73 percent.

The DAX of Germany declined by 2.14 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell by 1.75 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. dropped by 1.88 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 1.41 percent.

In Frankfurt, Manz AG climbed by 3.20 percent. The engineering company said that it has received several follow-up orders worth about 10 million euros for the automated assembly of notebooks and other consumer electronic devices.

RWE dropped by 2.70 percent and E.ON lost 2.68 percent.

Lanxess sank by 5.65 percent and Infineon Technologies weakened by 3.27 percent.

In Paris, Peugeot declined by 3.32 percent and Renault lost 3.43 percent. Car parts maker Valeo also decreased by 2.44 percent.

Technip dropped by 2.68 percent and Total weakened by 1.79 percent.

In London, Glencore sank by 9.74 percent after the miner cut its capex target for the full year.

Imperial Tobacco dipped by 0.49 percent, after its nine-month tobacco net revenue declined 4 percent to 4.435 billion pounds from last year's 4.632 billion pounds.

Admiral Group rose by 3.82 percent, after the car insurance group reported a forecast-beating 1 percent rise in first-half pre-tax profits.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals increased by 2.58 percent. The company reported that its profit before tax for the six months ended 30 June 2015 decreased by 22% to $170 million, from $219 million in the same period last year.

Carlsberg plunged by 9.24 percent in Copenhagen, after the brewer cut its full-year earnings forecast, citing a deteriorating macroeconomic climate in Eastern Europe.

The euro area current account surplus increased for the first time in five months, the European Central Bank reported Wednesday. The current account surplus rose to a 3-month high of EUR 25.4 billion in June from EUR 19.1 billion in May. This was the first increase since February.

Eurozone construction output decreased in June after rising in the previous month, figures from Eurostat showed Wednesday. Construction output fell a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent month-over-month in June, in contrast to a 0.2 percent increase in May, which was revised down from the 0.3 percent hike reported earlier.

The U.K. household finance index declined to the lowest level in eight months in August, as households expect a hike in interest rates over the next 12 months, survey data from Markit Economics showed Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted household finance index, which measures overall perceptions of financial well being and aims to track consumer behavior, dropped to 43.4 in August from 45.1 in July.

A score below 50 suggests pessimism regarding finances among the U.K. households. The latest reading was the lowest so far this year, but still above the average since the survey began around six-and-a-half years ago.

Consumer prices in the U.S. saw a modest increase in the month of July, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Wednesday, with the pace of growth coming in below analyst estimates. The Labor Department said its consumer price index edged up by 0.1 percent in July after climbing by 0.3 percent in June and 0.4 percent in May. Economists had expected prices to rise by 0.2 percent.