Tracking overnight steep losses on the Wall Street and drop in Asian stocks, the European stocks opened with some minor cuts on Wednesday.
The German DAX 30 index slipped nearly 0.4% to 9,890, while France’s CAD 40 index lost 0.25% to 4,361. UK’s FTSE 100 lost over 0.5% to 6,152, with shares of BHP Billiton and Sainsbury dragging the benchmark index lower for third consecutive session.
Earlier on Wednesday, Asian stock extended their recent weakness as reemergence of global growth concerns, on tumbling oil prices, continue to weigh investor sentiment.
PMI data disappoints
PMI data from UK continues to disappoint and the final composite services PMI for Euro-zone for April was also revised lower. The Markit/CIPS UK construction PMI index for April came-in much lower-than consensus estimate of 54. The index slumped to 52.0, registering a sharp drop from 54.2 in March and marking the lowest level since 2013, suggesting slowdown in nation’s construction activity right at the beginning of the second quarter. Meanwhile, the final reading of composite Euro-zone services PMI was revised lower to 53.1 as compared to the flash estimate of 53.3. Although, the reading was revised a bit lower but was still above the critical 50 level, indicating expansion in the economy.
US economic to watch
Investors will now look for support from today’s US ADP report and ISM non-manufacturing PMI data, scheduled for release later during the session.