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European stocks mostly fell on Wednesday as oil prices dropped and investors weighed up a slowing of growth in China. U.S. equity futures were mixed as investors mulled dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index
SXXP,
fell 0.3% to 459.30, the German DAX
DAX,
dropped 0.6% and the French CAC 40
PX1,
slipped 0.3%, while the FTSE 100
UKX,
rose 0.1%. The pound fell 0.2% against the dollar to $1.3822 after after Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told BusinessLive that he wouldn’t be pressured into any decision on raising interest rates, even amid rising inflation pressures.
Tugging on the downside was a drop in oil prices, with benchmark U.S.
CL.1,
and Brent crude
BRN00,
both down more than 1%, tracking Wednesday’s losses amid speculation that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have made progress toward a compromise on production levels. As well, oil was pressured by data showing a drop in U.S. gasoline demand.
Shares of heavily weighted energy stocks fell, with TotalEnergies
TTE,
BP
BP,
BP,
and Royal Dutch Shell
RDSA,
RDS.A,
and Repsol
REP,
stock all down between 1% and 2% each.
U.S. stock futures
ES00,
YM00,
were mostly lower, with the exception of Nasdaq-100 futures
NQ00,
Equities finished mostly higher and near record territory on Wednesday after Powell acknowledged sharp gains in inflation borne out by recent data, but indicated it was too soon to ratchet down support for the economy, in the first of two days of testimony on Capitol Hill.
Read: Powell plays down direct link of Fed’s purchases of mortgage bonds and the spike in home prices
Investors were also focused on China economic data, after growth slowed to 7.9% over a year earlier in the three months ending in June as a strong rebound from the coronavirus appeared to be normalizing. Asian stocks had a mixed session, with the Nikkei 225
NIK,
dropping 1.15%, but the China CSI 300 index
000300,
rising 1.35%.
Economic data elsewhere showed payrolls rising in the U.K. in June for the seventh straight month. In the largest increase on record, companies added more than 356,000 employees for the period.
In corporate news, share of Spain’s Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy
SGRE,
slumped 14% after the renewable energy company said it now expects a fiscal 2021 loss as higher provisions led to a third-quarter operating loss.
The ripple effect saw shares of German energy group Siemens Energy
ENR,
drop 9% after the company said it expects to miss its margin guidance for the full fiscal year, after disappointment from its Spanish subsidiary.
As well, stock in wind energy equipment maker Vestas Wind Systems
VWS,
fell 6%.
A crop of travel stocks were also falling as investors continued to monitor the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant of COVID-19, now present in 111 countries. Spain’s Balearic Islands were moved to the U.K.’s amber kicked to the amber list on Wednesday, meaning from Monday, residents returning from the popular tourist spot must quarantine unless they have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Shares of TUI
TUI,
easyJet
EZJ,
Aeroports de Paris
ADP,
were down around 3% each.
