The major European averages are trading in negative territory in early afternoon Friday, ahead of the release of U.S. monthly non-farm payroll data for January. Sentiment was impacted by growing concerns that the instability in Greece brought about by its spiraling budget deficit could expand to rest of the Eurozone region. Crude oil for March delivery is trading lower by $0.25 per barrel and gold is trading down $8.4 an ounce.
In France, the Customs Office said the country's trade deficit fell to EUR 4.26 billion in December from EUR 4.96 billion in November. Economists had expected the deficit to fall to EUR 4 billion. Exports stood at EUR 28.96 billion in December, down from EUR 28.97 billion in November and imports dropped to EUR 33.22 billion from EUR 33.94 billion in the prior month.
Further, in the U.K., output prices rose 3.8% annually in January following a 3.5% rise in December, the Office for National Statistics said. Economists had expected output price annual inflation to rise to 3.7%. Month-on-month increase in output prices was 0.4%, slightly more than the consensus forecast of 0.3%.
The Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology said German industrial production declined 2.6% in December from the previous month, reversing an increase of 0.7% in November. Economists were looking for a monthly growth of 0.6%. Year-on-year, production slipped 7.1%, compared to November's 8% drop. Consensus forecast was for 3.7% decrease.
In the U.S., the monthly employment report for January is expected to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The report is forecast to show an increase of 15,000 jobs compared to the loss of 85,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 10.0 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 opened at 5,139 and has been witnessing volatile trading since. The index languished below the flat mark all through the session. The German DAX began trading at 5,516, below the unchanged line, and continued to show weakness. Currently, the index is trading at 5,468. Like the other two averages, French CAC 40 also opened below the flat line, at 3,666, and followed a down path.
The FTSE 100 is sliding 1.68%, compared to the DAX slipping 1.15%, and the CAC 40 declining 2.38%.
In the U.K., Icap is plunging 17.77%, after the investment bank lowered its profit forecast for 2010. Banking stocks are taking a retreat, with Lloyds Banking Group down 5.05% and Barclays dropping 3.32%. Standard Chartered is trading 3.09% lower. Royal Bank of Scotland is declining 2.37%.
Natural gas company BG Group is losing 4.04%, after reporting a sharp fall in fourth-quarter profit. Among miners, Xstrata is losing 4.75%, Vedanta Resources is down 4.63% and Antofagasta is slipping 4.45%.
The few winners are led by Compass Group, which is gaining 4.86%. Earlier in the day, the food service company reported sequential improvement in organic revenue trends for the first quarter. A day after projecting in-line trading for fiscal 2010, Vodafone is up 0.71%.
In Germany, companies belonging to a wide spectrum of industries are trading notably lower. The losers are lead by Infineon Technologies, which is sliding 4.73%. Steel producers ThyssenKrupp and Saltzgitter are losing 2.41% and 1.07%, respectively. Car makers Volkswagen and Daimler are declining, and so are chemical firms K + S, Basf and Bayer. However, commodity chemical company Linde is up 0.99% and Deutsche telekom is adding 0.72%.
In France, bank stocks are losing heavily. Dexia is down 5.37% and Credit Agricole is sliding 4.28%. BNP Paribas and Societe Generate are declining 4.05% and 3.00%, respectively. Suez Environnement, which is up 0.18%, is the only stock witnessing an upward trend.
Across Asia, major indices ended in the red. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed the session lower by 2.89% and China's Shanghai Composite closed down 1.87%. India's BSE Sensex dropped 2.68% at the end of the session. Australia's All Ordinaries settled down 2.40%.
In the U.S., markets are poised to open lower with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures trading below the flat line. Thursday, the major U.S. averages finished firmly in negative territory. The Dow fell 2.6%, the Nasdaq declined 3% and the S&P 500 slid 3.1%.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.