The logo of BNP Paribas is seen on the facade of their central Paris agency. Shares in BNP rose 0.29% to €49.56 in yesterday’s trading.
AFP/London
Europe’s main stock markets closed mixed yesterday, with Frankfurt’s DAX 30 up 0.18% to 9,833.07 points, as traders reacted to eurozone inflation numbers ahead of key US jobs data due later in the week.
London’s FTSE 100 index of top companies ended down 0.20% at 6,743.94 while the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.32% to 4,422.84 points compared to Friday’s closing levels.
The euro gained to $1.3656 from $1.3646 late on Friday in New York.
Inflation across the 18-nation eurozone was steady in June at 0.5%, adding to concerns about deflation in the bloc, official data showed on Monday.
The European Central Bank is so concerned that prices could start falling it has moved into negative interest rates to get cash flowing, and authorities are closely watching whether this will be enough to push inflation back to the bank’s target of nearly 2.0%.
In foreign exchange, the British pound rose to $1.7054 from $1.7034 late on Friday after official data showed the country’s recession was not as bad as previously thought.
“Following the results of methodological revisions to the calculation of GDP published today, the UK has probably already passed its 2007 peak level of output,” said Robert Wood at Berenberg.
The euro eased to 80.08 British pence from 80.09 pence Friday.
US stocks opened mostly lower to kick off a holiday-shortened trading week that includes some major economic reports.
Five minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.22% to 16,815.43.
The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.08% to 1,959.37, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.03% to 4,399.10.
Italy’s fourth-biggest lender, Banco Popolare, fell 5% to €12 after its chief executive told a newspaper the bank has cancelled the sale of its bad debt unit.
Shares in BNP rose 0.29% to €49.56. The French bank has agreed to pay US authorities a $8.9bn fine to avoid being tried in court for dealing with US-blacklisted countries, sources close to the matter told AFP.
The deal ends months of haggling which saw French President Francois Hollande pressing his US counterpart Barack Obama to intervene and lighten the punishment.
Easyjet shares slumped 6.24% to 1,368 pence after a broker downgrade from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Shares in GlaxoSmithKline fell 0.54% after the British drug maker confirmed the existence of a sex tape of the former boss of its China division, which reportedly emerged just before Beijing launched a bribery probe into the company.
