(RTTNews.com) – European stocks drifted lower Wednesday after two straight sessions of gains, as a bond rout halted and the dollar index turned broadly lower against major currencies.
The latest U.K. jobs report painted a mixed picture, with the unemployment rate edging down to 4.8 percent in the July-September period and the number of people in work rising by 49,000, while the number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose by 9,800 in the month, the biggest rise since May.
Meanwhile, Moody’s Investors Service today noted that global credit conditions will remain uneven in 2017 amid stabilizing growth and low interest rates.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was virtually unchanged at 339 in late opening deals after two consecutive sessions of gains. The German DAX and France’s CAC 40 index were down around 0.4 percent each, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was moving down 0.2 percent.
ABN Amro shares fell nearly 2 percent. The Dutch lender is considering cutting 1,500 jobs as part of a cost-reduction plan after reporting a 19 percent jump in third-quarter profit.
Aggreko shares plunged 3.5 percent in London. The portable power provider reported a 7 percent drop in third-quarter underlying revenues, but expects full-year results to be broadly in line with expectations.
British Land shares lost 1 percent after the retail property giant swung to pretax loss for the first half of fiscal 2017.
Shares of German chemicals and life sciences company Bayer slumped 5 percent as the company announced plans to raise four billion euros via convertible notes to help finance the $ 66 billionMonsanto deal.
Bouygues shares climbed more than 4 percent in Paris. The industrial group confirmed its 2016 outlook after reporting better-than-expected profit for the first nine months of the year, helped by an improved performance at its telecom unit.
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