European Markets Dropped On Continued China Concerns

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Tuesday's session in the red, as concerns over the slowdown in China persist. The pull back came despite continued efforts by the Chinese central bank to boost its economy. The European markets briefly turned positive ahead of the open of the U.S. equity markets, but slipped back into the red after early U.S. gains began to erode.

China's central bank injected 140 billion yuan into the financial system through its short-term liquidity operations facility. The Peoples' Bank of China also lowered interest rates for the fifth time in nine months on Tuesday.

European Central Bank Executive Board member Peter Praet said downside risks to inflation have increased and the bank is willing to expand its bond purchase program if needed.

"Developments in the world economy and commodity markets have increased the downside risk to achieving the sustainable inflation path towards 2 percent," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"There should be no ambiguity on the willingness and ability of the governing council to act if needed," he added.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased by 1.44 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 1.75 percent.

The DAX of Germany dropped by 1.29 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell by 1.40 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. declined by 1.68 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 2.40 percent.

In Frankfurt, RWE dropped by 1.88 percent and E.ON weakened by 1.67 percent

Fresenius Medical Care declined by 1.53 percent and Bayer lost 1.35 percent.

BMW fell by 1.17 percent and Daimler surrendered 0.87 percent. Volkswagen also finished down by 0.15 percent.

In Paris, Total sank by 3.56 percent, but Technip gained 1.58 percent.

Cosmetics giant L'Oreal declined by 2.85 percent.

In London, bookmaker Paddy Power surged by 18.50 percent and online sports betting firm Betfair Group leaped by 20.40 percent after the two decided to merge to create Paddy Power Betfair Plc.

Advertising giant WPP declined by 3.74 percent. The company reported first-half results today.

Burberry surrendered 3.23 percent, due to concerns over China.

The fall in gold prices weighed on mining stocks Wednesday. Fresnillo sank by 7.04 percent and Randgold Resources dropped by 4.60 percent. Glencore tumbled by 3.74 percent and Antofagasta weakened by 3.11 percent.

British retail sales growth improved unexpectedly in August, survey data from the Confederation of British Industry revealed Wednesday. The balance of the CBI's distributive trades survey rose to +24 in August from +21 in the previous month. Economists had expected a balance of +18.

U.K. mortgage approvals rose for a seventh month in a row in July to their highest level in seventeen months, in line with economists' expectations, figures from the British Bankers' Association showed Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted number of mortgage approvals for house purchased climbed to 46,033 from 44,802 in June, which was revised from 44,488. Economists had forecast 46,000 approvals for July.

New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly saw a notable increase in the month of July, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders climbed by 2.0 percent in July after jumping by an upwardly revised 4.1 percent in June. The continued increase surprised economists, who had expected orders to drop by 0.4 percent.