By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets traded in a mixed fashion Thursday, as investors digested the region’s Covid-19 situation ahead of a meeting of EU leaders.
At 4:50 AM ET (0850 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 0.1% lower, the CAC 40 in France fell 0.1%, while the U.K.'s FTSE index climbed 0.2%.
The main focus for European markets is a virtual meeting between EU leaders to discuss the third wave of Covid-19 cases hitting the region as well as the associated slow vaccine rollout. The leaders are likely to discuss possible curbs on vaccine exports, a source of tension with the neighboring U.K., whose immunization program is more advanced.
Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands have all recently tightened restrictions to combat the increasing number of infections, which are threatening to swamp the region’s hospitals.
There was some good news for the region, as the GfK German consumer climate index came in at -6.2 in April, a small improvement from the -12.9 seen in March, but still indicative of a pessimistic consumer in the region’s largest domestic market as lockdowns weigh.
Sentiment in the French manufacturing sector stabilized, with the Insee monthly survey showing sentiment in the sector remained at 98 in March, unchanged from February’s figure.
In corporate news, AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) stock rose 0.5% after the drugmaker announced late Wednesday that its Covid vaccine was 76% effective at preventing symptomatic illness, only a slight drop from the 79% level it initially reported after questions were raised by the data used in its U.S. trial.
Cineworld (LON:CINE) stock fell 8.8% after the cinema chain reported a $3 billion loss for 2020 and said it will ask shareholders to approve a raise in its debt ceiling.
Hennes & Mauritz (ST:HMb) stock dropped 1.2% after the Chinese state media singled out the Swedish retailer on Wednesday for a statement last year in which the company said it was deeply concerned by reports of accusations of forced labour in Xinjiang.
Oil prices fell Thursday, reversing Wednesday’s gains which came after a container ship got stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking one of the most important supply routes in the world. This passage remains plugged, but demand concerns have returned to the fore.
While the focus has been on lockdowns in Europe, crucial developing economies like India and Brazil have also seen rising numbers of Covid-19 cases, Additionally, U.S. crude stocks jumped by 1.9 million barrels last week, according to official data from the Energy Information Administration.
U.S. crude futures traded 1.9% lower at $60.02 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 1.6% to $63.36.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,730.75/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.1804.