European Markets Pulled Back On China Weakness

(RTTNews) - The majority of the European markets ended Friday's session with modest losses. The sharp sell-off in China dampened the mood among investors in early trade. Mining stocks were under pressure due to the China concerns and because of weakness in commodity prices.

The markets managed to turn positive around midday, but slipped back into the red late in the afternoon due to the weak opening of the U.S. markets. After yesterday's Thanksgiving holiday and today's shortened U.S. trading session, many U.S. investors were absent from today's session.

China's Shanghai Composite index slumped 199.25 points or 5.48 percent on fears of a hard landing. Citic and Guosen securities confirmed they had been investigated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission for alleged violations of securities supervision and management regulations.

Profits earned by Chinese industrial enterprises decreased for the fifth consecutive month in October, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday. Industrial profits fell notably by 4.6 percent year-over-year in October, much faster than the 0.1 percent slight decrease in September.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.28 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.33 percent.

The DAX of Germany declined 0.24 percent, but the CAC 40 of France fell 0.32 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. dropped 0.27 percent, but the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.39 percent.

In Frankfurt, RWE dropped 3.38 percent and E.ON weakened by 2.54 percent.

Deutsche Bank surrendered 0.95 percent and Commerzbank lost 1.10 percent.

In Paris, LVMH decreased 1.98 percent and Kering fell 1.52 percent.

Technip dropped 1.67 percent and Total finished down by 0.87 percent.

In London, Rio Tinto declined 3.17 percent. The miner announced the approval for its $1.9 billion Amrun bauxite project.

Anglo American sank 8.18 percent and Fresnillo dropped 4.54 percent. Glencore tumbled 4.17 percent and Randgold Resources weakened by 4.29 percent. Antofagasta decreased 4.02 percent and BHP Billiton lost 3.07 percent.

Eurozone economic confidence remained unchanged in November at the highest level seen since mid-2011, results of a closely watched survey revealed Friday.

The economic confidence index came in at 106.1, unchanged from October, the monthly survey from the European Commission showed. This was the highest score since May 2011, when the reading was 106.6.

Initially, the sentiment reading for October was estimated at 105.9. Economists had forecast it to remain stable at 105.9 in November.

German consumer confidence is set to ease for a fourth straight month in December, as the high influx of migrants raise fears of unemployment and thus hurt economic and income expectations in the biggest euro area economy.

The forward-looking consumer confidence index dropped to 9.3 from 9.4 in November, results of a monthly survey by GfK showed Friday. Economists had expected a score of 9.2.

Germany's import prices declined at the fastest pace seen so far this year in October, figures from Destatis showed Friday.

Import prices fell 4.1 percent year-on-year in October, bigger than September's 4 percent decrease and a 3.9 percent drop forecast by economists. This was the biggest fall since January, when it plunged 4.4 percent.

French producer prices continued to decline in October, largely due to cheaper prices of coke and refined petroleum products, figures from the statistical office INSEE showed Friday. Producer prices in the French market dropped 2.5 percent year-over-year in October, following a 2.6 percent decrease in the previous month.

French household consumption declined for the first time in seven months in October, the statistical office Insee showed Friday. Household consumption decreased 0.7 percent on a monthly basis in October, in contrast to a 0.1 percent rise seen in September. This was the first fall since March when it fall similarly by 0.7 percent. Economists had forecast it to drop marginally by 0.1 percent in October.

The U.K. economic growth slowed as estimated in the third quarter, second estimates published by the Office for National Statistics showed Friday.

Gross domestic product climbed 0.5 percent from prior quarter, unrevised from the prior estimate released on October 27. This was the eleventh consecutive quarters of positive growth. In the second quarter, the economy had expanded 0.7 percent.

U.K. consumer confidence weakened to a six-month low in November, survey conducted by GfK on behalf of the EU showed Friday. The consumer sentiment index fell to 1 from 2 points in October. A similar low reading was last seen in May. The reading was expected to remain stable in November.

U.K. house price growth softened in November, data published by the Nationwide Building Society showed Friday. House prices advanced at a pace of 3.7 percent year-on-year in November, following October's 3.9 percent increase. It was the weakest increase since August when prices climbed 3.2 percent.