EUROPE MARKETS: French Stocks End Lower After Paris Attack Fuels Election Uncertainty
April 21 2017 - 12:45PM
Dow Jones News
By Sara Sjolin and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Eurozone PMIs rise to 6-year highs and beat forecasts
French stocks closed lower Friday after a suspected terror
attack in Paris just ahead of the country's presidential election
vote, helping to leave the regional equity benchmark with a loss
for the week.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index finished less than 1
point higher at 378.12, and ended the week lower by 0.7%.
In Paris, the CAC 40 ended down by 0.4% at 5,059.20, the last
trading session before Sunday's first round of voting in what's
seen as an extraordinarily tight presidential race.
A gunman late Thursday opened fire
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gunman-slain-after-killing-paris-police-officer-trump-suggests-terrorism-2017-04-20)
on the Champs-Élysées boulevard in Paris, killing a police officer
and wounding two others. Islamic State claimed responsibility for
the suspected terror attack. The attack could give a late-campaign
surge in support for anti-immigration, far-right candidate Marine
Le Pen, analysts said. Le Pen on Friday urged the government to
immediately reinstate French borders
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/le-pen-urges-government-to-immediately-reinstate-french-borders-after-paris-attack-report-2017-04-21)
and expel foreigners monitored by surveillance.
Read:When are the French election results out on Sunday?
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-are-the-french-election-results-out-on-sunday-2017-04-20)
The CAC 40 on Thursday jumped 1.5%, its biggest jump in seven
weeks, as markets started to price in the prospect of a win for
centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron.
Le Pen has vowed to hold a referendum on France's membership of
the European Union, fueling fears of a breakup of the bloc. One of
her three key rivals, far-left euroskeptic Jean Luc Melenchon, has
also pledged to renegotiate EU treaties and hold a referendum.
"Last night's terrorist attack in Paris, which given the
tightness of the polls, could influence events, leaving investors
to face the prospect of a face-off between Marine Le Pen on the
right and Melenchon on the left. Any such outcome is unlikely to be
well received by the markets," said Michael Hewson, chief market
analyst at CMC Markets, in a note.
And: Here's how France's hotly contested election could rattle
markets
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-frances-hotly-contested-election-could-spark-market-turmoil-2017-04-19)
And:5 charts show what the French presidential election means
for financial markets
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-charts-show-what-the-french-presidential-election-means-for-financial-markets-2017-04-21)
(https://twitter.com/MichelReuters/status/855450649881960450)
Individual benchmarks: Germany's DAX 30 index finished higher by
0.2% at 12,048.57, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index shed 0.1% at
7,114.55.
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-wavers-ahead-of-retail-sales-on-course-for-worst-week-in-5-months-2017-04-21)
Economic news: Preliminary readings on April purchasing
managers' indexes for the eurozone, France and Germany were all
released Friday morning.
All three flash readings for the eurozone--the composite,
manufacturing and services PMIs--rose to six-year highs and came in
better than forecast, signaling accelerating private-sector
activity.
France's preliminary PMIs also beat expectations, with the
composite reading jumping to a 71-month high at 57.4.
For Germany, the manufacturing PMI came in slightly better than
expected, but the gauge of the services sector missed
forecasts.
Movers: Volkswagen AG shares (VOW.XE) fell 0.8% after the German
auto maker was ordered to pay a $2.8 billion criminal fine
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/volkswagen-hit-with-28-billion-criminal-fine-2017-04-21)for
using equipment used to cheat emissions tests. That formalizes
punishment Volkswagen agreed to earlier this year in a plea deal
with U.S. prosecutors
Shares of Software AG (SOW.XE) jumped 7.9% after the company
reported a smaller-than-expected drop in underlying earnings.
WS Atkins PLC (ATK.LN) rose 6.1% after SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.
(SNC.T) said it would buy the U.K. engineering company for GBP2.1
billion ($2.69 billion).
Shares in German soccer club Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co.
KGaA (BVB.XE) added 2.5%. The gain came after police charged a
Russian-German man
(https://www.wsj.com/articles/dortmund-bomb-suspect-bought-stock-options-on-soccer-attack-1492758515)
with being behind the bomb attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus
last week, alleging he was hoping to make money on a drop in the
stock price.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 21, 2017 12:30 ET (16:30 GMT)
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