European Markets Fall; French PPI Rises

Arthi Gupta, Mayank Mehta and Sanjay Barot
01 Jun, 2010
New York City

European stocks fall amidst concerns that a slowdown in China may impede global economic recovery. Euro-zone jobless rate edges up to 10.1% in April. Swiss economic growth slows in the first quarter.

[R]7:00 PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York. - European stocks fall amidst concerns that a slowdown in China may impede global economic recovery. Euro-zone jobless rate edges up to 10.1% in April. Swiss economic growth slows in the first quarter.[/R]

Stocks in Europe declined after data showed Chinese manufacturing expanded at a slower pace in May because of weaker inflows of new orders at home and from abroad. Euro-zone jobless rate edged up to 10.1% in April. German retail sales rise but unemployment falls in April. French producer price inflation picks up in April.

BP''s """"top-kill"""" operation failed to plug the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.

AstraZeneca announced the receipt of a Complete Response Letter or CRL from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the new drug application for AXANUM tablets.

In London FTSE 100 Index traded lower 98.50 or 1.90% to 5,089.93, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 63.99 or 1.82% to close at 3,443.57, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 92.03 or 1.54% to close at 5,872.30. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 45.10 or 0.71% to close at 6,267.50.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate for the euro area edged up to 10.1% in April from 10% recorded in March, according to data released by Eurostat today. The total number of unemployed was 15.860 million, an increase of 25,000 from March.

In the EU27, the jobless rate stood at 9.7%, unchanged from March, the statistical agency said. The total number of unemployed increased to 23.31 million from March''s 23.28 million.

Statistical office INSEE said output prices of the French industrial sector in the domestic market increased 1% in April compared to March, following a 0.7% rise in the previous month. Year-over-year, domestic producer prices were up 4%.

Meanwhile, Markit Economics said the Markit / CDAF France manufacturing purchasing managers'' index stood at a seasonally adjusted 55.8 in May, down from 56.6 in April, marking a three month low in the headline PMI.

The number of unemployed in Germany amounted to seasonally adjusted 3.05 million in April, the Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday. That represents a decrease of 230,000 persons or 7.1% from the previous year and 80,000 persons or 2.3% drop from March.

Meanwhile, the number of persons in employment living in Germany amounted to 40.1 million in April, a decrease of 53,000 persons or 0.1% from the previous year. As a result of the strong spring recovery, the number of persons in employment rose 207,000 or 0.5% month-on-month

German retail sales rose 1% month-on-month in April in real terms, data released by the Federal Statistical Office showed Tuesday. That was in line with economists'' expectations.

German retail sales rose 1% month-on-month in April in real terms, data released by the Federal Statistical Office showed Tuesday. That was in line with economists'' expectations.

On an annual basis, retail turnover decreased 3.1% in real terms, following an increase of 3.7% in March. Nominally, there was a decline of 1.8%.

Compared with the previous year, turnover in retail trade was down 0.2% in nominal terms and 1.1% in real terms in the first four months of 2010, the statistical office said.

The Swiss economy continued to expand in the first quarter driven by trade and private consumption. However, the growth was slower than the previous two quarters, on a fall in government expenditure and investment, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, said Tuesday.

Gross domestic product, or GDP, rose 0.4% sequentially in the first quarter. Meanwhile, SECO revised up fourth quarter GDP figure to 0.9% from 0.7% reported earlier. On an annual basis, GDP growth accelerated to 2.2% from 0.6% in fourth quarter.

Gainers & Losers

Areva SA, the nuclear group fell 0.04% to €353.00. The company said it is buying the remaining 49% stake it already didn''t own in the German wind turbine manufacturer Multibrid.

Deutsche Bank AG, the global investment bank fell 2.7% to €47.58.

Genfit SA, the biopharmaceutical company increased 4.1% to €6.25.

Laurent-Perrier SA, the manufacturer and distributor of champagne rose 0.01% to €68.26.

LVL Medical Groupe SA rose 7.9% to €14.37 after the provider of home respiration assistance services said first half revenues rose 16% to €75.5 million from €64.9 million a year ago. Net profit for the first half rose 58% to €6.0 million compared to net profit of €3.8 million a year ago.

NicOx SA, the biopharmaceutical company rose 7.8% to €3.47.

Salzgitter AG, the steelmaker fell 3.1% to €50.90.

ThyssenKrupp AG, the steelmaker fell 2.5% to €21.38.

Vallourec SA, the producer of seamless steel tube products fell 1.6% to €149.75.