Europe close: Investors take some profits amid latest coronavirus headlines
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Friday 03 Jul 2020
(Sharecast News) - Investors took some profits on European stocks at the end of the week amid light trading volumes on account of the Independence Day holiday Stateside.
Reports of a new record in the number of daily Covid-19 infections in the US state of Florida and of intensive care units in Texas facing maximum capacity were also weighing on the mood nevertheless.
On Thursday, Florida had registered 10,000 new cases - a spike that exceeded the single-day tally of every European nation at the height of the pandemic, while across the US as a whole the number of cases surpassed the 50,000 mark for the first time.
Also dampening sentiment was a Bloomberg report, citing multiple conversations with central bank officials, of increasing differences among top European Central Bank officials regarding the skew in emergency purchases of Italian government debt.
By the end of trading, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was down 0.93% to 364.86, alongside a 0.64% dip on the German Dax to 12,528.18 while the Cac-40 was off by 0.84% to 5,007.14 and the FTSE Mibtel by 0.81% to 19,726.15.
In parallel, front month Brent crude oil futures were down 0.9% at $42.75 while euro/dollar was little changed at 1.1242.
Also in the headlines, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a government reshuffle, including the appointment of a new Prime Minister, Jean Castex, from the country's Republican party.
The economic calendar was light on Friday, but what economic reports were published did come in ahead of forecasts.
IHS Markit's services sector euro area Purchasing Managers' Index for services was revised up from a reading of 47.5 for June to 48.5 on the back of improved readings for Germany and France.
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