Europe’s main stock markets ended the week on pause yesterday, with downbeat sentiment over the deadly Nice truck attack offsetting Wall Street records and positive Chinese data.
Airline stocks slid after a gunman late Thursday smashed a truck into a crowd in the French resort of Nice, killing at least 84 people in what President Francois Hollande declared a “terrorist” attack.
Accor Hotels led losers on the Paris market in shedding 3% as the French tourism industry fretted at the latest in a slew of recent attacks while transport firms and luxury goods makers also fell back.
Overall, the Paris market closed the session off 0.3% at 4,372.51 points.
At the close in London, the benchmark FTSE 100 index edged into positive territory, adding 0.2% to 6,669.24 points while Frankfurt’s DAX index ended off just 0.01% to 10,066,90 points — albeit for a rise of 4.5% for the week.
British no-frills airline EasyJet was among the biggest fallers with its share price closing down 2.6%.
“There was an understandably muted tone to the markets...the latest (of) tragedies in France making everything seem a bit frivolous,” said Connor Campbell, an analyst at Spreadex trading group.
Hollande declared three days of mourning after the Nice assault as shellshocked France found itself again mourning its dead after the attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine in January 2015 and the November 2015 massacre in Paris.
Thursday’s attack targeted France’s national holiday Bastille Day that is celebrated each year on July 14.
Elsewhere, Wall Street saw muted rises after opening into fresh record territory on strong June retail sales data.
The Dow Jones index added 0.2% to 18,547.71 points before inching back down 0.1% to 18,492.90.
The tech-rich Nasdaq and the broad-based S&P 500 both also slid back after posting early 0.2 % rises.
US retail sales jumped 0.6%, exceeding expectations, bolstered by strong gains in building materials and garden supplies and most categories.
The lack of impact on US equities after the Nice attack shows how “senseless acts of terrorism don’t resonate fully in capital markets unless they are perceived to have a material economic impact,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. Asian stock markets climbed for a fifth-straight session and after China released data showing the economy grew more than expected in the second quarter.
In foreign exchange, the pound pressed on with its recovery against the dollar after the Bank of England surprised with a decision Thursday not to cut its main interest rate.
Analysts had expected a cut to a new record low under 0.50% to fend off a possible recession.
But a majority of the bank’s policy committee said it wanted to further assess the fallout on the economy from the EU referendum result and many analysts see a cut as likely in August.
Stock market traders were meanwhile on course to end one of the best weeks this year on expectations central banks around the world will ramp up stimulus measures, while last week’s strong reading on US jobs last week also fired up confidence.
The buying was given more impetus yesterday when Beijing said the world’s number two economy grew 6.7% in April-June, better than the 6.6% forecast in an AFP poll and the same as the previous three months.
The upbeat mood was enhanced by separate figures showing Chinese retail sales had risen far more than forecast.
“China is on track for achieving this year’s growth target,” said Zhu Haibin, JP Morgan’s chief economist on China.
However, he warned that “investment continues to be on the weak side”.
Japanese stocks were meanwhile supported also by a weakening yen, which has lost almost 6% this week as traders await details of a flagged stimulus package from Tokyo.
In London, the FTSE 100 up 0.2% at 6,669.24 points; Frankfurt — DAX 30 down 0.01% at 10,066.90 points and Paris — CAC 40 down 0.3% at 4,372.51 points at the close yesterday.