An employee leans on a glass wall above the main atrium of the London Stock Exchange. The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.58% at 6,855.02 points yesterday.
AFP/London
Europe’s main stock markets diverged yesterday as dealers awaited news on a deal over Greece’s finances next week, while also tracking unrest in Yemen.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day down 0.58% at 6,855.02 points.
But Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index added 0.21% to 11,868.33 points, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.55% to 5,034.06 points.
The euro rose to $1.0919 from $1.0884 late in New York on Thursday.
“On Friday, shares in Europe extended the recovery started a day earlier as concerns over the situation in Yemen eased but are nevertheless still looking at one of the worst weeks of 2015,” said analyst Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets.
The FTSE shed 2.38% over the week, the DAX gave up 1.4% and the CAC 1.0%.
However, the FTSE still remains up 4.4% since the start of the year, while the ECB stimulus has supercharged the CAC, up nearly 18%, and the DAX by 21%.
Focus remained on Greece yesterday, as Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann says he is opposed to giving the troubled eurozone country more emergency loans, charging the new government in Athens with frittering away a lot of trust.
Greece is trying to reach a long-awaited accord with its creditors on funds vital to avert a state default.
The country’s new radical left government is racing to reach a deal with its EU-IMF creditors by next month before state coffers run dry. The economy minister said Thursday he expects a deal next week.
European stock markets had slid on Thursday as the escalation of the crisis in Yemen and suspicions a Germanwings co-pilot deliberately crashed the plane into the French Alps unnerved investors.
“Regardless of the minor movements (in stocks)... there is a sense of quiet on the markets following yesterday’s relative bloodbath, suggesting that investors are struggling to comprehend the logical complexities that are dictating current prices,” said Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex trading group.
“The FTSE continued to languish... as investors failed to get behind a recovery for the UK index, instead placing their confidence in the eurozone.
“Sustained losses for oil and copper meant that the FTSE’s influential commodity sectors provided no relief for the UK index, with Anglo American, Tullow Oil and Lonmin amongst the big losers,” Campbell added.
Oil prices fell yesterday after spiking the previous day as Saudi Arabian jets struck rebel targets in Yemen, sparking supply fears in the crude-rich Middle East.
Asian markets were also mixed yesterday in edgy trade also driven by concerns over the unrest in Yemen.
Wall Street stocks pushed higher yesterday following a report showing weaker-than-expected US economic growth as the market sought to snap a four-day losing streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.09% to stand at 17,694.35 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.07% to 2,059.03, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.23% to 4,874.66.
With the Federal Reserve mulling raising near-zero interest rates this year, equities often receive a boost from data suggesting the US economic recovery isn’t ready for higher rates.
The Commerce Department’s third estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth was left unrevised at an annual rate of 2.2% following the third quarter’s blistering 5.0% pace.
The expansion in the final months last year disappointed analysts, who on average had pegged GDP to rise 2.4%.
