Traders at their desks in front of the DAX board at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The DAX 30 index yesterday ended 2.14% lower at 10,682.15 points.
AFP/London
European stock markets closed lower yesterday, dragged down by volatile trading in Shanghai amid concerns over China, the world’s second biggest economy.
Shanghai’s index managed to close 1.23% higher, thanks to late bargain hunting after a more than five% plunge in morning trade.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index finished the day down 1.88% at 6,403.45 points in the British capital.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 ended 2.14% lower at 10,682.15 points and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 1.75% at 4,884.10 compared with Tuesday’s close.
Athens’ main index however rose 0.32% to 675.33 points, after the German parliament voted by an overwhelming majority to back a third bailout for Greece, with Chancellor Angela Merkel spared a major rebellion of legislators opposing the aid.
In foreign exchange, the euro rose to $1.1065 from $1.1029 late on Tuesday in New York.
The dollar dipped before the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s last meeting, which investors hope will offer fresh clues about the timing of an interest rate rise.
European equity markets meanwhile dropped “as once again weaker markets in Asia are souring sentiment for investors”, said Markus Huber, senior analyst at brokers Peregrine & Black.
China’s central bank has made $17bn (15.3bn euros) available to more than a dozen financial institutions to help boost the economy, it said Wednesday, a day after injecting nearly $100bn into two government policy banks.
Elsewhere, markets were eyeing the Fed minutes to see if they back up growing expectations of a US rate hike as early as next month.
Some analysts have argued that the US central bank could delay any increase following China’s devaluation of the yuan last week - news that weighed on the dollar.
“Fed Chair Janet Yellen has been very clear in her view in recent months that the first rate hike in more than nine years should come this year,” noted Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda trading group.
“Inflation has been a key concern for the US for some time and the strong dollar has not helped matters. The low inflation environment is expected to continue for some time yet, with wages likely to remain fairly suppressed as US companies do whatever it takes to compete with their foreign peers,” he added.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare agreed that recent events – including China’s currency devaluation and a further slide in oil prices – may have overtaken the Fed’s earlier deliberations.
“The major risk with the minutes today is that they will be over-analysed and subject to accusations that (what) was said then may not necessarily apply now,” he said.
Awaiting word from the Fed Wall Street was trading lower yesterday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.25% at 17,291.67 points in deals around noon.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.26% to 2,096.92 points, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1.18% at 4,999.53.
Back in Europe, lawmakers in the German Bundestag lower house approved the 86bn euro ($95bn) bailout to Greece by 454 votes to 113.
As Europe’s biggest economy and contributor to Greek aid, Germany plays a key role in the emergency package approved also by eurozone finance ministers.
