In Germany, stocks were lower Thursday following a global market trend and specifically as a result of worries over a U.K. exit from the European Union. The Bank of England also announced that it would be keeping its interest rate unchanged at 0.5 percent which effected stocks negatively. Germany’s DAX was down -113.20 points or -1.13 percent to 9,862.12.
Source: Google Finance.
Many speculators are reporting that Germany would be the hardest hit from a U.K. exit and thus the DAX would feel the most drastic affects. This appears to be true in today’s trading as the DAX has fallen on concerns reported by the Bank of England that an exit from the European Union by the U.K. would lead to a recession. With Germany as one of the U.K.’s most significant trade partners it appears the DAX and Germany overall would see significant repercussions.
In Germany, stocks most actively traded for the day included Bayer, E.ON and RWE. Bayer was down -4.15 points or -4.15 percent to a close of 95.75 EUR. E.ON and RWE gained for the day. E.ON was up 0.11 points or 1.34 percent to 8.18 EUR. RWE gained 0.93 points or 8.18 percent to close at 12.30 EUR.
U.S. stocks were also a factor for the broader market as the retail industry reported losses in valuations and corporate earnings were lower. Disney, Macy’s and Staples were among the top stocks leading the market lower in Wednesday’s trading. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 216.82 points or 1.21 percent to close at 17,711.53. The S&P 500 was also down, closing at 2,064.48 for a loss of 19.91 points or 0.96 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4,760.69 for a loss of 49.19 points or 1.02 percent. On Friday the U.S. will report its retail sales which are likely to fall below consensus of 0.9 percent as the outlook for the sector has weakened.
In Europe, other notable index closes included France’s CAC 40 which closed at -23.40 points or -0.54 percent to close at 4,293.27; the Stoxx Europe 600 which closed at 333.11 for a loss of -1.63 points or -0.49 percent; and the Stoxx Europe 50 which closed at 2,786.69 for a loss of -14.30 points or -0.51 percent.
In Asia, market trading was mixed. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down -1.18 points or -0.04 percent to 2,835.86. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down -139.83 points or -0.70 percent to 19,915.46. Japan’s Nikkei was up 67.33 points or 0.41 percent to 16,646.34. The S&P BSE Sensex gained 193.20 points or 0.75 percent to 25,790.22 and India’s NSE Nifty gained 51.55 points or 0.66 percent to 7,900.40. As a broad market measure, the Asia Dow was down -6.32 points or -0.24 percent to 2,633.64.