European equities traded lower on Thursday morning as investors waited for the latest data on US unemployment data and followed the lack of progress in negotiations over a US pandemic relief package.
The Europa Stoxx 600 Index was down 0.4% in the early morning trading session, with base sources hitting 1.7% to hit losses, while Telecom trending to add 0.7% .
Thyssenkrupp was one of the worst performers on the index, with its shares down 13.8% after the German steel company posted a quarterly loss of 679 million euros ($ 800 million). However, the company said it was seeing signs of stabilization, following the reduction of security restrictions and the sale last month of its lift unit.
Shares of Carlsberg were also around 4.8% after the Danish brewer said it expected profits to fall 10% -15% in 2020 due to lockdowns in Europe and China affecting sales, Reuters reported.
Shares of Deutsche Telekom were up 2% after the company posted a jump in revenue in the second quarter and core profit, increasing its support for the year.
The latest weeks of data on jobless claims that statewide are in focus for investors Thursday as they provide a snapshot of the state of the world’s largest economy.
Another 1.1 million workers are expected to claim state unemployment benefits for the first time in the week ending August 8. That would mark a retardation from the previous week, although still well above any reading prior to the pre-Covid era.
Meanwhile, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that Democrats and the Trump administration are “miles apart” over negotiations for the next pandemic relief package, in what is now a common refrain for progress on a possible deal.
In Asia, markets jumped most on Thursday morning, following an increase in U.S. markets Wednesday when tech stocks rolled, hinting at the lack of progress over a coronavirus aid package.
– CNBC.com staff contributed to this market report.
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