Yahoo Finance FTSE and Wall Street fall as US industrial production declines
How major markets are performing on Thursday
European stock markets were mainly trading lower on Thursday as traders locked in their gains after a recent rally on Wall Street.
In London, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was 0.9% lower by afternoon trade, having scaled a near one-month high on Wednesday.
Meanwhile the CAC (^FCHI) was 0.4% down, and the Frankfurt DAX (^GDAXI) managed to push almost 0.4% higher. The Stoxx 600 (^STOXX) was 0.6% lower as losses in the energy and consumer cyclicals sector offset gains from utilities, industrial and real estate.
Across the pond, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was treading water, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) slipped by 0.2% despite rising confidence that the US has got a grip on inflation and that interest rates are likely to fall in 2024.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was almost 0.1% down after opening. It came after new data showed that more Americans filed new claims for unemployment support last week. There were 231,000 ‘initial claims’ for jobless support filed in the week to November 11, an increase of 13,000 from the previous seven days.
"European stock indices paused a bit early on Thursday to cement gains," Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said.
"The FTSE 100 struggled to make headway as Burberry slumped around 10% after warning profits would be at the low end of guidance as luxury demand slowed. The read-across for luxury stocks weighed on the CAC in Paris, whilst the DAX managed to rise as Siemens posted record profits."
Meanwhile, Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades, said: "Following sharp price rises on most benchmarks and a weaker US dollar, many traders have taken out profit, leading to some consolidation or slight pull-backs on those markets."
Elsewhere, shares in Asia retreated on Thursday after Wall Street continued its rally from the previous day.
The Nikkei (^N225) fell 0.3% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) finished 1.4% lower in Hong Kong. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) saw a loss of 0.7% during the session.
Watch: How does inflation affect interest rates?
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