The U.K. market has been moving across either side of the unchanged line on Thursday, ahead of the jobless claims from the U.S. Sentiment was impacted by a slew of economic reports and concerns about the interest rate decision from the European Central Bank.
Crude for October delivery is slipping $0.63 at $73.28 per barrel, while December gold is adding $1.5 at $1249.6 an ounce.
In economic news, construction activity in the U.K. slowed in August reflecting weakness in housing construction. Markit Economics said the CIPS construction purchasing managers' index came in at 52.1, down from 54.1 in the previous month.
In the Eurozone, producer prices rose in July in line with economists' expectations. The producer price index climbed 4% year-on-year in July, faster than 3% in June, Eurostat said. Month-on-month, the PPI rose 0.2% in July, a tad slower than June's 0.3%.
Eurozone economic growth in the second quarter was 1% on a sequential basis, first estimates released by Eurostat said. The statistical office confirmed the preliminary estimate issued on August 13. In the first quarter, the economy had expanded 0.3%.
In Switzerland, economy recorded a 0.9% sequential expansion in the second quarter, a report from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs revealed. The growth figure topped economists' forecast of 0.8%, but was down from 1% growth recorded in the first quarter.
U.K. house prices dropped more than expected in August as the imbalance between supply and demand in the housing market increased, revealed data released by Nationwide Building Society. House prices fell 0.9% compared to July, faster than the 0.5% decrease in the previous month. Economists had forecast a 0.3% drop.
Meanwhile, as expected, the European Central Bank held the key interest rate at 1%.
The FTSE 100 opened at 5,366 and has been swinging between gains and losses. The index is currently losing 0.07%.
Chip maker Arm Holdings is leading the decliners by falling 4.2%. Cable & Wireless Worldwide and Cairn Energy are declining 2.6% each. Tullow Oil is down 2.2%, while BP and Royal Dutch Shell are slipping 0.5% each. However, BG Group is rising 1.2%.
Precious metal firms are seeing the downside. African Barrick Gold is sliding 2.3%, while Lonmin and Fresnillo are slipping about 1.2% each.
Utilities Centrica and National Grid are declining 1.7% and 1.1%, respectively. InterContinental Hotels is losing 1.2%.
Software firm Autonomy is leading the gainers by rising 4.04%. Lender Lloyds Banking Group is rising 1.2% and Royal bank of Scotland is adding 0.9%. Standard Chartered is adding 0.5%.
Among miners, Anglo American, Vedanta Resources, Kazakhmys and BHP Billiton are gaining between 1.1% and 0.6%. Rio Tinto is moving 0.11% up. However, Eurasian Natural Resources is declining 0.9% and Antofagasta is down 0.5%.
Insurer Aviva and RSA Insurance are rising about 1.7% each.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is losing 0.05% and the French CAC 40 is adding 0.18%.
Across Asia/Pacific, most major markets closed in the green. Australia's All ordinaries gathered 0.80% and China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.25%. Japan's Nikkei 225 surged 1.52% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.18%.
The U.S. futures indicate a lower opening on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow surged 2.5%, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 soared 3% each.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.