Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
European markets edged slightly lower on Thursday, after an initially positive start to the 2025 trade.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 The index reversed previous gains to trade 0.3% lower at 11:18 am London time, as regional bourses reopened after the New Year holiday.
Bank stocks led losses, losing more than 2%, while autos also fell 1.8%. Meanwhile, oil and gas stocks edged higher, adding 1%, as utilities also rose 0.84%.
Shares of Spain BBVA and Santander Bank were among the biggest losers in the sale of bank stocks, falling more than 4%. of Italy Unicredit traded about 3% lower.
The main regional stock markets also slipped into the red in the middle of the morning, along with France CAC 40 lose 1.2%. President Emmanuel Macron he seemed to admit on Tuesday that his decision to hold snap parliamentary elections last year caused problems for the country.
“We are also facing political instability, it is not specific to France, we also see it among our German friends who have just dissolved their Assembly. But it legitimately worries us,” said Macron in his address of the new year. “I must admit tonight that the dissolution [of parliament] has brought, for the moment, more divisions to the Assembly than solutions for the French,” he added.
Elsewhere, in Germany DAX down 0.3% on Thursday and the United Kingdom FTSE 100 was hovering around the flat line.
It comes as manufacturing activity contracted in December in Germany and France in a sign of continued doom for the euro zone’s two largest economies. The HCOB manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 42.5 last month in Germany, up from 43.0 in November. Meanwhile in France, production volumes fell to 41.9, the sharpest drop since May 2020.
Manufacturing activity also slowed in Italy in December, the data showed, while Spain recorded a month of expansion as southern Europe’s economy continued to gain steam.
In currency markets, sterling and the euro plunged against a strengthening dollar. The British pound hit its lowest level against the greenback since April 2024, and was last down 0.61% at $1.2441 at 11:43 am London time. The euro fell 0.31% to $1.0323, its lowest level since November 2022.
Sterling
UK house prices rose 0.7% month-on-month in December as activity remained unseasonably strong in the final month of the year, data from British lender Nationwide showed shown on Thursday. Housing prices have increased 4.7% over the year, bringing them within touching distance of the all-time highs recorded in summer 2022.
Asian stocks trading mixed overnight, with China’s stocks leading losses as many major markets resumed trading after the New Year holiday.
US Stock Futures they were slightly higher as trading began for 2025. Traders hope that the market can regain the momentum that propelled it to log two straight years of annual gains above 20%.
— CNBC’s Christina Cheddar Berk and Sophie Kiderlin contributed to this market report
