European Markets Trading Lower Amid Recovery Concerns

European shares are weak in the mid-day trading on Friday, despite broadly higher movement in Asian markets and positive cues from Wall Street overnight.

Investors remain concerned over Chinese consumer inflation that contracted in May from the prior month. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that factory gate prices declined the most in more than seven years, leaving the door open for monetary policy easing to support the struggling economy.

Industrial production from Italy showed a 7.2 percent drop in April compared to the prior year, and a 1.9 percent drop from the previous month.

The Netherlands’ industrial production was down for the fourth straight month in April and at the fastest pace in fourteen years, figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.

France’s CAC 40 declined 0.19 percent at 7,208.49 after adding 0.27 percent in the previous close. U.K.’s FTSE 100 fell 0.27 percent at 7,579.49, after finishing 0.32 percent lower on Thursday, and Germany’s DAX was at 15,954.30, down 0.22 percent, even as it added 0.18 percent in the previous day.

The pan-European Stoxx-600 was at 459.85, down 0.18 percent after slipping 0.02 percent on Thursday.

Switzerland’s SMI was down 0.33 percent at 11,271.60 after finishing 0.35 percent lower in the previous close.

Asian markets finished broadly higher on Friday lead by shares in Japan. The Nikkei 225 was up 1.97 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.55 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng went up 0.47 percent.

Wall Street had closed on a positive note on Thursday amidst a sharp fall in bond yields that followed the latest job market update, which showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits jumped to 261 thousand in the week ended June 3 versus the previous reading of 233 thousand and expectations of 235 thousand. The Nasdaq jumped 1.0 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent and the Dow rose 0.5 percent.

In corporate news, French software provider Dassault Systemes were down 1.7 percent, despite announcing that it targets a doubling of its earnings per share by 2028. The company also said that Pascal Daloz will become its new CEO from January 1 next year.

Shoe Zone plc shares were gaining around 8 percent after the firm said it now expects adjusted profit before tax for fiscal 2023 to be not less than 10.5 million pounds. The business has exceeded expectations on strong early demand for summer products and lower container rates.

Top gainers on the day include Rheinmetall AG, up 2 percent; Vonovia, a gain of 2.7 percent, and Airbus Group up 1.1 percent, while Symrise AG lost 4.2 percent, Brenntag AG was down 2.50 percent, and BASF was down 2 percent.

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