By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch Stoxx Europe 600 on track for weekly
fall
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks fell Friday, with shares
of oil producers and miners among the biggest losers as prices for
natural resources declined, and as investors assessed a round of
economic growth data from the eurozone.
Gross domestic product figures from the eurozone confirmed
sluggish activity for the 18-member region in the third quarter,
growing by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter, according to the European
Union's statistics office. The figure was slightly better than
expected.
Germany registered growth of 0.1% in the third quarter, allowing
the largest economy in the eurozone to dodge recession, while
French GDP expanded 0.3%, coming after a slight contraction in the
second quarter. But Italy's GDP contracted 0.1% in the third
quarter. On more upbeat notes, Spain's GDP grew 0.5% and Greece
posted growth of 0.7%.
The headline eurozone growth figure provided "welcome news that
fears of a renewed recession look exaggerated. However, the data
will diminish hopes that the European Central Bank will feel the
need to take further action to stimulate growth," said Chris
Williamson, chief economist at Markit, in a Friday note.
Markets: The euro (EURUSD) dipped to $1.2454 after the eurozone
data, compared with $1.2462 ahead of the releases.
The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.5% to 334.30, with the move erasing
the equity index's weekly gain. It now faces a weekly loss of
0.3%.
Crude-oil futures (CLZ4)edged higher intraday, but the moves
provided no relief for shares of oil companies as oil prices still
traded around four-year lows. The battering of oil prices may
persist into the first half of 2015 unless global output is cut,
the International Energy Agency said Friday.
Tullow Oil fell 1.9%, Cairn Energy PLC lost 2.2%, BP PLC (BP)
fell 0.7%.
Meanwhile, dollar-denominated metals prices felt the weight from
gains for the U.S. dollar, in turn putting pressure on shares of
miners. Randgold Resources PLC fell 1.8% as did Anglo American PLC
. BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) fell 1.4% and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) was off
1.5%.
Among country indexes, Germany's DAX 30 index fell 0.4% to
9,208.45, France's CAC 40 index fell 0.5% to 4,159.60, and the
U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.2% to 6,620.18.
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