Stockmarkets have struggled ahead of the release of US employment data later today, with the impact of yesterday’s ECB forecasts also affecting investor sentiment.
In early trading all the major European indices slipped into red territory. The FTSE EuroFirst 300 index fell 1.4 per cent as of 8.41am, while the Cac 40 index in France dropped 1.3 per cent, and the German Dax index declined 1.4 per cent.
Yesterday the ECB trimmed inflation and growth forecasts for the eurozone, highlighting the threat from the emerging markets slowdown and recent global market volatility. The euro fell 1 per cent after ECB president Mario Draghi hinted at further quantitative easing in his monthly press conference.
US markets ended trading slightly higher with the S&P 500 index up 0.12 per cent and the Dow Jones Index moving 0.14 per cent higher. But if US employment data released today matches or betters expectations this may raise expectations of a US interest rate rise earlier than anticipated following the last Federal Reserve minutes.
Elsewhere Asia also struggled, in spite of the fact the Chinese market has been closed, with the Topix index in Japan closing 2.1 per cent lower and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong down 0.5 per cent.
