European Markets Fell For The First Time This Week Ahead Of Doha Meeting

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Friday's session in the red, the first negative finish for the markets this week. The upward trend the markets enjoyed earlier this week began to run out of steam yesterday, as investors turned more cautious ahead of the upcoming meeting of major oil producers in Doha.

Crude oil prices pulled back on reports that Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh may not attend the Sunday meeting in Doha. Investors are now skeptical about a breakthrough deal to freeze production at January levels.

As Iran has rejected calls to cut production, Saudi Arabia made it clear that it won't sign any deal unless other major oil producers, including Iran, participate in the deal.

China's economic growth eased slightly in the first three months of the year amid signs that the momentum in manufacturing, investment and consumer spending was improving, supported by monetary and fiscal stimulus as well as accelerating credit growth.

Gross domestic product grew 6.7 percent year-on-year following a 6.8 percent expansion in the fourth quarter of last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Friday. The growth figure was in line with economists' expectations. However, the pace of growth was the weakest since 2009.

Bank of England appointed Citibank economist Michael Saunders as an external member on its rate-setting body for a three-year term.

Saunders will replace Martin Weale, whose second term on the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee ends on August 8, the bank said in a statement.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.21 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.16 percent.

The DAX of Germany dropped 0.42 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 0.36 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.34 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.08 percent.

European new car registration growth more-than-halved in March, but marked the 31st successive month of increase, figures from the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed Friday.

New passenger car registrations climbed 6 percent year-on-year in March after a 14.3 percent jump in February. The number of units sold were over 1.7 million.

In Frankfurt, Volkswagen decreased 2.23 percent and Daimler fell 2.08 percent. BMW also finished down by 1.05 percent.

In Paris, car parts maker Faurecia dropped 3.60 percent after reporting sluggish first-quarter growth and reiterating its forecast of 1-3 percent sales growth for 2016.

Renault declined 1.85 percent and Peugeot weakened by 3.34 percent. Valeo also surrendered 3.75 percent.

Carrefour climbed 3.82 percent as the supermarket chain reported higher quarterly sales, reflecting robust sales in Brazil, Spain and Italy.

In London, Man Group jumped 7.19 percent. The hedge fund manager reported net inflows of US$500 million in the first quarter and said it is benefiting from its diversified business model against the backdrop of challenging market conditions.

Floorcovering manufacturer Victoria retreated 5.35 percent after saying it is no longer in talks to buy Lano Carpets.

Acal advanced 4.49 percent. The specialist electronics group said its earnings for fiscal 2016 will be "slightly" ahead of expectations.

AB InBev gained 1.63 percent in Brussels. The Belgian brewer, which is seeking approval for its proposed $105 billion takeover of rival SABMiller, has pledged not to eliminate any jobs in South Africa after completing the transaction. SABMiller finished higher by 1.59 percent in London.

Euro area trade surplus decreased more-than-expected in February, figures from the Eurostat showed Friday. The seasonally adjusted trade surplus declined to EUR 20.2 billion from EUR 22.8 billion in January. Economists had forecast a surplus of EUR 21.5 billion.

British construction output unexpectedly declined in February, marking its second consecutive fall, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Friday. Construction output fell 0.3 percent from January, when it declined 0.4 percent. Economists were looking for no change. In December, output grew 2.1 percent.

Business activity for New York manufacturers expanded faster than expected in the month of April, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Friday.

The New York Fed said its general business conditions jumped to 9.6 in April from 0.6 in March, with a positive reading indicating growth in regional manufacturing activity. Economists had expected the index to rise to 3.0.

With mining and utilities output showing notable decreases, the Federal Reserve released a report on Friday showing a much bigger than expected drop in U.S. industrial production in the month of March.

The Fed said industrial production fell by 0.6 percent in March, matching the downwardly revised drop reported for February. Economists had expected production to edge down by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.5 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.

Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has unexpectedly deteriorated in the month of April, the University of Michigan revealed in a report on Friday. The report said the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for April came in at 89.7 compared to the final March reading of 91.0.

The modest decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the consumer sentiment index to inch up to 92.0.