The UK market is moderately lower in afternoon trading on Friday, after Germany's Ifo business confidence strengthened in May. The Asian markets ended mixed and the U.S. futures indicate a lower open after stocks finished in the red overnight.
Germany's business sentiment improved to 105.7 in May from 104.4 in April, reports said citing a survey from the Ifo institute. The reading was forecast to remain unchanged at 104.4. The assessment of current conditions rose to 110, from 107.3 a month ago, above the expected level of 107.2.
On a positive note again, Germany's consumer confidence is set to strengthen in June, results of a survey by market research firm GfK showed. The forward-looking index for June rose to 6.5 in June from 6.2 in May. Economists had forecast the indicator to remain unchanged at 6.2.
Detailed data from the Federal Statistical Office revealed that a rebound in consumer spending helped the German economy thwart recession in the first quarter of 2013. However, the continued fall in firms' fixed asset investment and extreme weather conditions stifled the recovery.
French business confidence increased more than expected to 92 in May from 88 in April. It was forecast to rise to 89. According to the business leaders, personal production outlook held steady at -2 and remains below its long-term average.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is losing 0.17 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is falling 0.31 percent.
The FTSE 100 index is losing 0.6 percent.
Eurasian Natural Resources is declining 2.7 percent. Temporary power provider Aggreko is falling 2.2 percent and retailer Next is losing 2.2 percent.
UBS raised UK bank sector to ''Overweight'' from ''Neutral.'' However, HSBC is declining 1.8 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland is losing 1.7 percent.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is losing 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 is flat. However, Switzerland's SMI is advancing 0.4 percent.
Across Asia/Pacific, markets ended mixed. Australia's All Ordinaries lost 1.5 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.2 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index and Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 0.6 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped about 0.1 percent each, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.3 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for July delivery is losing $0.06 to $94.19 per barrel and June gold is falling $3.1 to $1388.7 a troy ounce.
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