Eurozone limps in with latest figures as Dow squeaks to new high

An influx of figures from the Eurozone this morning weighed on the markets, as Europe failed to meet expectations yet again.

French and German flash manufacturing PMIs came in at 47.6 and 50.0 respectively. France had forecast 48.9, whilst Germany had predicted 51.5. Similarly, the flash manufacturing PMI for the Eurozone was 0.5 points lower than expected at 50.4. All these figures are all uniformly worse than they were last month. Subsequently the DAX opened at 9470.2 after closing out Wednesday at 9483.8, with the EUR/USD dropping 0.3% to 1.25114.This latest round of disappointing figures coming from the heartland of Europe may be a sign to ECB President Draghi that calming words and promises of intervention alone may not be enough to stall the Eurozone’s decline.

This news from Europe similarly weighed on the UK, with the FTSE opening 13 points lower at 6691.3. Following this, the UK reacted to the month by month retail figures, which came in at 0.8% instead of the forecast 0.4%. These numbers did not cause much change to the FTSE as it struggled in the face of the poor performance by Europe.

The FTSE wasn’t helped by the latest blow to the banking sector, with Royal Bank of Scotland being fined £56 million for a system crash in 2012. This caused RBS’ stocks to fall 0.2% to 383.15. The UK will also be looking closely at the hotly-contested election in Rochester and Strood, where the Conservatives and UKIP go head to head in one of the first indications of how the general election may pan out next year.

In Asia, China’s HSBC flash manufacturing PMI was 50.0, 0.4 points less than last month, just another disappointing economic figure that has affected the markets this morning. In Japan, the Nikkei closed at 17269.5, after opening at 17447.5. Such fluctuation in the Nikkei is to be expected, as their flash manufacturing PMI fell to 52.1 amidst the generally unstable political and economic situation Japan currently finds itself in.

Finally, the Dow barely managed to reach its latest closing high, with a difference of only 3 points between Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s closing figures. With the market closing at 17683, the Dow has remained unwavering in its continued record run. The next challenge it faces is a flurry of figures this afternoon, with the USA’s CPI forecast at -0.1%, core CPI forecast at 0.2%, with unemployment claims predicted to be 286k. All these figures are higher than the previous set; if this proves to be true the Dow’s run should go on unchallenged. Later also sees the earnings releases from retail giants Best Buy and GameStop, as well as fashion houses French Connection and Gap, all which could have bearing on the state of the US markets.