Europe close: Stocks manage small gains as UK agrees Brexit extension
By Josh White
Date: Thursday 11 Apr 2019
(Sharecast News) - Stocks on the continent finished Thursday's session just above the waterline, after a day in which a slightly hawkish set of US central bank policy meeting minutes and an "awkward" extension to Article 50 saw sentiment remain muted.
The benchmark Stoxx 600 ended the day up 0.06% at 386.91.
Looking locally, Germany's DAX was ahead 0.25% at 11,935.20 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.66% at 11,935.20.
In Spain, the IBEX 35 added 0.41% to settle at 9,445.40, while London's FTSE 100 slipped 0.05%, finishing at 7,417.95.
Sterling was last 0.08% weaker against the common currency at €1.1604.
"US markets managed to close modestly higher yesterday, though some of the gains were constrained by a slightly more hawkish interpretation of the latest Fed minutes to what many in the markets had been expecting," said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK.
European Union leaders had granted the UK a six-month extension to leave the bloc in the wee hours of Thursday morning, which helped to quash concerns of a no-deal exit on Friday.
However, according to traders that also meant a fresh general election was unlikely as organising one would require more time.
On the flip-side, that stoked speculation that Conservative MPs might now turn against Theresa May, leaving market participants scratching their heads.
Thursday's economic calendar was quite sparse, although consumer prices in Germany and France were confirmed at 1.4% and 1.3% firmer year-on-year in March.
Stateside, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, to a near 50-year low, according to data from the Labor Department.
US initial jobless claims declined by 8,000 from the previous week's revised level to 196,000, beating expectations for an increase to 211,000 and marking the lowest level since 4 October 1969.
The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 to 204,000.
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