European Markets Pull Back Ahead Of Long Weekend

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Thursday's session firmly in negative territory. The markets opened notably lower after the weak performance of the Asian markets. Continued weakness in commodity prices caused further weakness in energy and resource stocks. Trading activity was also on the light side ahead of tomorrow's Good Friday holiday.

Euro area economic recovery is set to continue at a moderate pace as global concerns such as the emerging market slowdown and a stronger euro weaken prospects for stronger expansion, the European Central Bank said in its latest economic bulletin released Thursday.

"The economic recovery in the euro area is continuing, albeit with signs of a moderation in growth at the beginning of the year due to a weaker external environment," the bank said.

The central bank expects domestic demand to be further supported by its monetary policy measures and their favorable impact on financial conditions, the slightly expansionary fiscal stance, and the favorable impact on employment of past structural reforms.

Further, the low price of oil should provide additional support for households' real disposable income and corporate profitability, and thus for private consumption and investment, the ECB said.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip stocks decreased 1.83 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 1.35 percent.

The DAX of Germany dropped 1.71 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 2.13 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 1.49 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 1.50 percent.

In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank dropped 3.45 percent and Commerzbank fell 1.84 percent.

ThyssenKrupp declined 1.74 percent and Salzgitter lost 2.65 percent.

Daimler weakened by 1.92 percent and BMW surrendered 1.83 percent. Volkswagen also finished lower by 1.71 percent.

In Paris, Societe Generale decreased 3.99 percent and Credit Agricole fell 2.20 percent. BNP Paribas also closed down by 2.17 percent. Renault dropped 2.81 percent and Peugeot lost 3.12 percent. Car parts maker Valeo also weakened by 3.32 percent.

Total fell 1.70 percent and Technip slipped 0.95 percent.

In London, Next plunged 15.09 percent. The company reported higher full year pre-tax profits and it also announced a 5 percent increase in its annual dividend. However, Next also warned that 2016 would be a "challenging year."

Standard Chartered sank 7.76 percent and Barclays lost 2.46 percent. Royal Bank of Scotland declined 2.02 percent and HSBC fell 2.19 percent.

Royal Dutch Shell weakened by 1.12 percent and BP surrendered 0.77 percent. Tullow Oil also tumbled 5.59 percent.

Banco Popolare fell 2.12 percent and Banca Popolare di Milano lost 1.10 percent in Milan, after they announced a merger agreement.

German consumer confidence is set to fall in April as global risks dampen economic outlook and consumers turn less optimistic about income expectations. The forward-looking consumer sentiment index dropped to 9.4 from 9.5 points in March, survey data from market research group GfK showed Thursday. It was forecast to remain unchanged at 9.5.

Germany's import prices decreased at the fastest rate in more than six years during February, as lower energy prices continued to dampen inflationary pressures, preliminary data from Destatis showed Thursday. The import price index dropped 5.7 percent year-on-year following 3.8 percent decline in January. Economists were looking for a 5.1 percent fall.

New orders received by the German construction sector increased in January and the order value was the highest since April 2002, Destatis said Thursday. Construction orders grew 1 percent from the previous month. Year-on-year, the increase was 12.6 percent on an adjusted basis.

France's manufacturing confidence unexpectedly weakened for the first time in four months in March, as the assessment on order book levels and businesses' expectations on their production deteriorated, survey results from INSEE showed Thursday. The confidence index for the manufacturing industry dropped to 101 from 103 in both January and February. Economists had expected the index to hold steady at 103.

British retail sales declined at a slower than expected pace in February, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Thursday. Retail sales volume dropped 0.4 percent month-on-month reversing January's 2.3 percent growth. This was slower than an expected 0.7 percent decrease.

U.K. mortgage approvals declined in February, defying expectations for a modest increase, figures from the British Bankers' Association showed Thursday. The number of loans approved for house purchase fell to 45,892 from 46,916 in January, which was highest in nearly two years. Economists had forecast 47,900 approvals for February.

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest increase in the week ended March 19th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims edged up to 265,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's downwardly revised level of 259,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 268,000 from the 265,000 originally reported for the previous week.

After reporting a significant rebound in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that durable goods orders pulled back in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders fell by 2.8 percent in February after surging up by a revised 4.2 percent in January. Economists had expected durable goods orders to drop by 3.0 percent compared to the 4.7 percent jump that had been reported for the previous month.