European Markets Dropped On Geopolitical Concerns

(RTTNews) - The European markets sold-off sharply early Thursday as geopolitical concerns weighed on investor sentiment. However, the markets were able to pare their losses in the afternoon, after the U.S. equity markets turned positive. Energy and mining stocks were among the best performers, due to an increase in oil and commodity prices.

Black box recordings show that the co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday brought the plane down deliberately. The co-pilot was in sole control of the plane in the final minutes, and he intentionally started its descent keeping the pilot locked out of the cockpit. Officials are currently indicating that there are no grounds to consider the crash as a terrorist incident.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have launched air strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who recently overthrew the nation's president. Saudi ambassador in the US, Adel al-Jubeir said the military action was aimed to defend the "legitimate government" of Hadi, who has taken refuge in the southern port city of Aden.

The news has led to worries about a broader sectarian conflict in the Middle East, as the Saudis consider the Houthi rebels as proxies for Iran.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased by 0.43 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.72 percent.

The DAX of Germany declined by 0.18 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell by 0.29 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. dropped by 1.37 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 1.15 percent.

In Frankfurt, Bayer decreased by 1.07 percent. UBS downgraded its rating on the stock to "Neutral" from "Buy."

Deutsche Lufthansa dropped by 3.03 percent after new details have emerged from Tuesday's Germanwings plane crash.

Commerzbank fell by 0.81 percent and Deutsche Bank lost 0.60 percent.

BMW increased by 1.97 percent and Daimler gained 1.26 percent.

In Paris, Credit Agricole declined by 1.65 percent and Societe Generale dropped by 1.33 percent.

Alcatel-Lucent sank by 1.90 percent and Orange fell by 1.48 percent.

In London, London Stock Exchange Group sank by 5.67 percent, after Borse Dubai sold its entire stake in the exchange operator.

International Consolidated Airlines declined by 3.37 percent and easyJet lost 2.86 percent.

ASML fell by 4.85 percent in Amsterdam. Deutsche Bank cut the stock to "Sell" from "Buy."

Lending to the Eurozone private sector declined modestly in February, suggesting a gradual revival in euro area bank lending, data from the European Central Bank showed Thursday. Loans to businesses and households fell 0.1 percent annually, following a 0.2 percent drop in January, which was revised from a 0.1 percent drop reported earlier.

German consumer confidence is set to improve further to its highest level in more than 13 years in April, as weak euro and low inflation function as mini stimulus to the economy, survey data from the market research group GfK showed Thursday.

The forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose to 10 in April from 9.7 points in March. This was the highest score since October 2001. The index was expected to rise marginally to 9.8.

Germany's real wage index increased in 2014 to reach its highest level since the beginning of the time series in 2008, largely influenced by the lower inflation pressure in the country, final figures from Destatis showed Thursday.

In the whole year 2014, real earnings grew 1.7 percent from the previous year, which was revised upwardly from a 1.6 percent increase initially estimated. The latest rate of increase was the highest since the time series began in 2008.

The French economy grew marginally as initially estimated in the fourth quarter, final data from the statistical office Insee showed Thursday. Gross domestic product rose 0.1 percent sequentially following third quarter's 0.3 percent increase. The rate came in line with the estimate published on February 13.

French unemployment increased in February following a decline in the prior month, the labor ministry reported late Wednesday. The number of people out of work rose by 12,800 from January to 3.49 million. It increased by 0.4 percent on a monthly basis and 4.6 percent from last year.

The leading Index for France, which measures the future economic activity, increased in January, after remaining unchanged in the previous month, survey figures from Conference Board showed Wednesday. The Conference Board leading economic index rose 0.2 percent in January, after staying flat in December. In November, the index had risen 0.1 percent.

British retail sales continued to expand in February at a faster-than-expected pace, suggesting strong support from domestic spending to economic growth in the first quarter. Retail sales increased at a faster pace of 0.7 percent in February from January, when it gained 0.1 percent, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Thursday.

The monthly growth exceeded a 0.4 percent rise forecast by economists and marked the fifth straight month of growth.

U.K. retail sales picked up in March after growth nearly halted in February, Distributive Trades survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Thursday. The retail sales balance rose to 18 percent from 1 percent in February. Nonetheless, it was below expectations of 27 percent.

After reporting a modest uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that initial jobless claims pulled back by more than expected in the week ended March 21st.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 282,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 291,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 290,000.