European Markets Tumbled On China Concerns & Falling Oil Prices

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Friday's session firmly in negative territory, extending its weakness from the previous trading day. Tumbling oil prices and another sharp sell-off in China sapped investors' appetite for risk. China's main stock market entered bear-market territory after today's decline of 3.55 percent. Meanwhile, crude oil prices dropped well below $30 per barrel amid speculation Iranian oil will exacerbate the global supply glut.

Today's sell-off in Europe was broad based. Falling oil prices led to a pull back in energy stocks, while concerns of China had a negative impact on mining and resource stocks. Chip makers were down due to the weak performance of Intel in the U.S., following its quarterly report. Financial stocks were also under heavy pressure at the end of the week.

China's bank lending declined in December and money supply growth slowed from last year, the People's Bank of China said Friday. Banks extended CNY 597.8 billion in December, which was below November's CNY 708.9 billion lending. It was forecast to fall marginally to CNY 700 billion.

M2 money supply climbed 13.3 percent annually, slower than the 13.7 percent growth registered in November. Likewise, M1 growth eased to 15.2 percent from 15.7 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 2.37 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 3.10 percent.

The DAX of Germany declined 2.54 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 2.38 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. dropped 1.93 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 2.39 percent.

In Frankfurt, Salzgitter Group tumbled 6.73 percent. The company said it would be affected by the legislation of German Federal Finance Court published on January 13, 2016.

Dialog Semiconductor dipped 0.17 percent after the Apple supplier said it would not increase its buyout offer for U.S. chipmaker Atmel.

Volkswagen declined 3.92 percent. Today's ACEA report showed that the company's market share fell for the first time since 2007.

RWE decreased 4.58 percent and E.ON fell 4.57 percent.

Deutsche Bank weakened by 4.27 percent and Commerzbank surrendered 3.80 percent.

In Paris, Carrefour dropped 1.38 percent, after the retailer reported fourth-quarter sales in line with expectations.

Casino Group climbed after announcing sale of its majority stake in Thai hypermarket operator Big C Supercenter.

Renault tumbled 3.37 percent. The company announced yesterday that French authorities raided several of its facilities in connection with an emissions probe.

Societe Generale dropped 5.81 percent and BNP Paribas fell 3.64 percent. Credit Agricole also finished lower by 3.43 percent.

In London, BHP Billiton sank 6.39 percent, after the company said it would take a charge of $7.2 billion in its half year results to write down the value of its U.S. onshore energy assets.

Mining stocks were under pressure due to concerns over China. Anglo American tumbled 11.49 percent and Glencore sank 6.51 percent. Antofagasta dropped 5.98 percent and Rio Tinto surrendered 5.27 percent.

Royal Bank of Scotland fell 4.51 percent and Standard Chartered weakened by 4.34 percent. Barclays decreased 2.98 percent and HSBC lost 3.25 percent. Lloyds Banking Group also closed down by 2.74 percent.

Tullow Oil sank 6.20 percent and Royal Dutch Shell surrendered 2.91 percent. BP also finished lower by 2.57 percent.

Bovis Homes Group lost 0.81 percent after it forecast a significant increase in pre-tax profit for 2015.

Hennes & Mauritz rose 0.55 percent in Stockholm. The retailer reported that its sales for the month of December, including value added tax or VAT, increased 10 percent in local currencies from the same month last year.

The euro area trade surplus hit a nine-month high in November as exports increased amid fall in imports, Eurostat reported Friday. The trade surplus rose to a seasonally adjusted EUR 22.7 billion from EUR 19.8 billion in October. This was the highest since February, when it totaled EUR 23.1 billion. Also, it stayed above the expected level of EUR 21 billion.

European new car registrations in December logged the biggest monthly increase for 2015, marking the twenty-eighth straight month of growth, figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed Friday.

New passenger car registrations rose 16.6 percent year-on-year to 1.11 million units. In November, sales climbed 13.7 percent.

U.K. construction output dropped unexpectedly in November, figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed Friday. Construction output fell 0.5 percent month-on-month in November, reversing a 0.2 percent rise in October. Economists had forecast a 0.5 percent rise for November.

Retail sales in the U.S. saw a modest decrease in the month of December, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday. The report said retail sales edged down by 0.1 percent in December following an upwardly revised 0.4 percent increase in November.

Economists had expected sales to come in unchanged compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

With utilities output showing another substantial decrease, the Federal Reserve released a report on Friday showing that U.S. industrial production fell by more than expected in the month of December. The report said industrial production dropped by 0.4 percent in December after slumping by a revised 0.9 percent in November.

Economists had expected production to dip by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.6 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.

Reflecting steep drops in prices for food and energy, the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing that U.S. producer prices fell by slightly more than expected in December. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand dipped by 0.2 in December after rising by 0.3 percent in November. Economists had expected prices to edge down by 0.1 percent.

Manufacturers in New York State saw a sharp deterioration in business conditions in January, results of a key regional survey showed Friday. Results were well below what economists were predicting and marked the lowest levels in about 7 years. The figures also showed a multi-year low in optimism.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its Empire State index came in at negative 19.37 for January. This was down sharply from the reading of negative 6.21 in December. Economists had expected January's figure to improve slightly to negative 4.

Reflecting more positive expectations for future economic growth, the University of Michigan released a report on Friday showing that U.S. consumer sentiment has improved for the fourth straight month in January.

The preliminary report said the consumer sentiment index climbed to 93.3 in January from the final December reading of 92.6. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 93.0.

Business inventories in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a modest decrease in the month of November, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday. The report said business inventories dipped by 0.2 percent in November after edging down by a revised 0.1 percent in October.

Economists had expected inventories to come in unchanged, matching the reading originally reported for the previous month.