European Markets Dropped Ahead Of U.S. Jobs Report

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Thursday's session in negative territory. The markets got off to a weak start and remained in the red throughout the session. Investors turned cautious ahead of the release of some key economic data. The U.S. jobs report for March and Chinese manufacturing data are both due to be released on Friday.

Meanwhile, European economic data came in with mixed results. German retail sales came in below expectations and euro area inflation held in negative territory for the second month in a row, while U.K. GDP growth was revised up to show 0.6 percent growth in the fourth quarter.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's lowered China's credit rating outlook to 'negative' from 'stable,' saying that though the country's reform agenda remains on track, the economic rebalancing is likely to proceed more slowly than expected.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 1.29 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.98 percent.

The DAX of Germany dropped 0.81 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 1.34 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.46 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.47 percent.

In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank declined 1.19 percent and Commerzbank fell 0.53 percent.

E.ON sank 2.78 percent and peer RWE dipped 0.13 percent.

Volkswagen decreased 1.50 percent and BMW surrendered 1.62 percent. Daimler also finished lower by 0.85 percent.

In Paris, Bouygues dropped 3.64 percent. The company said its board would meet before the end of the weekend in order to make a final decision on whether to sell its telecoms business to rival Orange. Orange finished with a loss of 1.25 percent.

Total declined 2.24 percent and Technip lost 1.75 percent.

Societe Generale decreased 0.96 percent and Credit Agricole fell 0.60 percent. BNP Paribas also closed down by 0.49 percent.

Kering dropped 2.57 percent and LVMH weakened by 2.59 percent.

In London, TUI Group climbed 4.96 percent as the world's largest tour operator reported good trading performance for summer 2016 with both revenue and bookings ahead of last year.

Shares of AO World jumped 3.59 percent after the online electrical retail giant issued a bullish update.

Barclays dropped 1.09 percent and HSBC fell 0.72 percent. Royal Bank of Scotland also lost 0.45 percent.

Eurozone consumer prices decreased for the second straight month in March on falling energy prices, while core inflation accelerated, offering some relief to the European Central Bank in its attempts to revive inflationary pressures in the 19-nation economy.

Consumer prices fell 0.1 percent in March from a year ago following a 0.2 percent drop in February, flash data from Eurostat showed Thursday. The annual decline matched economists' expectations.

German retail sales declined unexpectedly in February, provisional results from Destatis revealed Thursday. Retail sales slid 0.4 percent month-on-month in February, confounding expectations for a 0.4 percent rise. Sales had fallen 0.1 percent in January.

German unemployment rate held steady in March, the Federal Labor Agency reportedly said Thursday. The unemployment rate came in at 6.2 percent in March, the same as in February, and in line with expectations. This was the lowest since German reunification.

Germany's unemployment rate held steady in February, preliminary figures from Destatis showed Thursday. The jobless rate came in at an adjusted 4.3 percent in February, the same rate as in the previous month. In the corresponding month last year, the unemployment rate was 4.8 percent.

French consumer spending grew more than expected in February, figures from the statistical office Insee revealed Thursday. Household consumption expenditure grew 0.6 percent month-on-month, bigger than an expected 0.2 percent rise. Nonetheless, it was slower than January's 1 percent increase.

France's consumer prices decreased in March at the same pace seen in the previous month, largely due to the slump in energy prices, marking the second straight month of decline, preliminary data from the statistical office INSEE showed Thursday.

The flash consumer price index dropped 0.2 percent year-on-year, same as in February, when prices fell for the first time in eleven months. Economists were looking for a 0.1 percent drop.

The U.K. economy expanded more than previously estimated in the fourth quarter, a detailed report from the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday.

Gross domestic product climbed 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter from prior three months, which was revised up from 0.5 percent estimated on February 25. This was the 12th consecutive quarter of positive growth since early 2013.

Consumer confidence in the United Kingdom was largely unchanged in March, the latest survey from GfK revealed on Thursday with an index score of 0. That was unchanged from the February reading, and it beat forecasts for a score of -1.

UK home loan approvals eased slightly in February after a strong climb at the start of the year, figures from the Bank of England showed Thursday. The number of loan approvals for house purchase dropped to 73,871 from 74,085 in January. Economists had expected 73,500 approvals.

A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that initial jobless claims rose by more than expected in the week ended March 26th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 276,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 265,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 266,000.

After reporting an unexpected contraction in Chicago-area business activity last month, MNI Indicators released a report on Thursday showing a bigger than expected rebound by its Chicago business barometer in the month of March.

MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer jumped to 53.6 in March from 47.6 in February, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to rise to 50.3.