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Coronavirus: European stocks fall as investors assess stark impact of crisis

Edmund Heaphy
·Finance and news reporter
Updated ·2-min read
16 March 2020, Hessen, Frankfurt/Main: Stock traders work in the trading room of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in front of the display board with the Dax curve. As a result of the worsening coronavirus crisis, the German share index Dax has fallen below the 9000 point mark. Photo: Arne Dedert/dpa (Photo by Arne Dedert/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange. European stocks were mixed on Thursday. (Arne Dedert/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)

European stocks were mixed on Thursday as investors assessed a raft of economic data and corporate earnings that reflected the stark impact of the coronavirus crisis.

Purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data from the eurozone demonstrated the scale of the economic shutdown across the bloc, while dozens of US firms were expected to report earnings on Thursday.

Swiss bank Credit Suisse (CS) became the first major European lender to issue results since the coronavirus pandemic began. Warning of coronavirus uncertainties, the bank set aside 568 million Swiss francs (£473m) for potential loan losses.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (^STOXX) was 0.2% in the green, while London’s FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was up by just 0.1%.

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Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) was down by around 0.2%, while France’s CAC 40 (^FCHI) was up by around 0.4%.

“Markets here in Europe initially got off to a modestly positive start, however the really poor PMI numbers have taken some of the air out of the early positivity,” said Michael Hewson, the chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

IHS Markit’s flash eurozone PMI for April came in at 13.5, suggested a historically sharp contraction in business activity and reflecting bleak surveys in France and Germany.

“On the earnings front, having seen US banks take large provisions last week, European banks are following suit, with Credit Suisse this morning, following in the footsteps of Italian lender UniCredit yesterday,” said Hewson.

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Stocks in Asia also had a mixed trading session.

China’s SSE Composite Index (^SSEC) fell by 0.2% on Thursday and the Hang Seng (^HSI) was up by more than 0.1% in Hong Kong at market close.

Japan’s Nikkei (^N225) rose by more than 1.5%, while Australia’s ASX 200 (^AXJO) closed marginally down.

Futures were also pointing to a lower open for US stocks on Thursday.

S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F), and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all down by more than 0.3%.