European stocks edge lower 

european stocks

European stocks were slightly lower Thursday morning, after a flurry of poorly received corporate earnings reports.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged down around 0.2 percent during mid-morning deals, with most sectors and major bourses in negative territory.

Europe’s banking index led the losses, falling more than 1.3 percent amid reports of suspected wrongdoing. Sweden’s financial authority (FI) said on Thursday that allegations made in a media report linking Swedbank to a regional money laundering scandal were “very serious.” The FI added that the scandal, which involves Danske Bank, would be included in its ongoing supervisory activities.

Shares of Swedbank and Dankse Bank tumbled more than 8 percent and 4 percent respectively on the news.

Looking at individual stocks, Danish drug company Genmab surged to the top of the European benchmark during morning trade. The Copenhagen-listed stock reported stronger-than-expected results on Thursday, prompting shares to jump nearly 8 percent.

Sticking in Denmark, Moller-Maersk tumbled to the bottom of the index. The world’s largest shipping firm reported fourth-quarter earnings in line with expectations on Thursday, but warned a long-running trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies could hamper growth in 2019. Shares of the firm tanked almost 11 percent on the news.

On the data front, factories across the euro zone unexpectedly fell into reverse this month, official surveys showed Thursday, amid heightened trade tensions and ongoing problems in the autos sector. The flash manufacturing PMI slipped to 49.2 this month, its lowest level since mid-2013 and significantly below the 50-mark that separates growth and contraction.

Meanwhile, IHS Markit’s flash composite PMI, which is seen as a barometer to economic health, rose to 51.4 in February, from a final reading of 51.0 last month.

Trade war

Market focus is largely attuned to global trade developments, after U.S. and Chinese officials reportedly started to outline commitments in principle on the stickiest issues in their long-running trade dispute.

President Donald Trump has suggested he might be willing to extend the March 1 deadline for a deal, which would stop an immediate increase in tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent.

In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, rose 0.4 percent — hitting its highest level since early October.

The four-and-a-half-month highs in Asia came after the U.S. Federal Reserve confirmed on Wednesday that it would be “patient” on future interest rate hikes.

Source: CNBC

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