The German market has been moving close to the unchanged line on Thursday, after a mixed bag of economic data out of the U.S. in the previous session reduced hopes of further monitory easing.
China's Premier Wen Jiabao said the economy is still under pressure, despite some positive signs in some sectors, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.
During a two-day inspection tour to Zhejiang Province, Jiabao said the foundation for stable economic growth is still fragile and the economic hardships may continue for some more time.
Eurozone annual inflation remained stable at 2.4 percent in July, final data from Eurostat showed. The rate also matched flash estimate. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were down 0.5 percent in July.
U.K. retail sales grew 0.3 percent in July from a month ago, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Economists had forecast a slight 0.1 percent drop after rising 0.8 percent in June.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is losing 0.16 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. Companies, is falling 0.31 percent.
The DAX index is currently falling 0.05 percent.
Deutsche Boerse is falling around 1 percent. Siemens is losing 0.7 percent.
RWE and E.ON are moderately lower.
Barclays initiated KWS Saat with "Underweight" rating. The stock is losing 1.3 percent.
Brenntag is losing around 1 percent after Berenberg reduced its rating on the stock.
Barclays initiated K+S with "Overweight" rating. The stock is up 0.4 percent.
Merck is climbing 2.6 percent and Metro is adding 1.8 percent.
Elsewhere in Europe, the French CAC 40 is losing 0.25 percent and the UK's FTSE 100 is falling 0.31 percent. Switzerland's SMI is dropping 0.38 percent.
Across Asia/Pacific, major markets had a mixed outing. Australia's All Ordinaries gained 1.1 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 1.9 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street, ahead of some key data on the housing and jobs markets as well as the manufacturing sector. In the previous session, stocks turned in yet another lackluster performance, extending the sideways move seen over the past week. While the Dow edged down 0.1 percent, the Nasdaq rose 0.5 percent and the S&P 500 inched up 0.1 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for September delivery is falling $0.11 to $94.22 per barrel and December gold is losing $0.4 to $1606.2 a troy ounce.
by RTT Staff Writer
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