FRANKFURT: European stocks finished lower Wednesday, with mining shares among the biggest laggards after lackluster Chinese manufacturing data underscored worries about the health of the world’s second-largest economy.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.96% fell 1% to end at 344.12.
Among financials, UniCredit SpA shares UCG, -1.81% fell 1.8% after the Italian lender said late Tuesday two of its board members have resigned. The moves come after Federico Ghizzoni last week agreed to step down as UniCredit’s chief executive.
The basic materials SXPR, -2.78% group lost ground after the release of Chinese manufacturing data. The official purchasing managers index for manufacturing was unchanged at 50.1 in May, while the private Caixin index slipped to 49.2 from 49.4 in April.
Platinum producer Anglo American PLC AAL, -1.33% closed down 1.3%, Boliden SE BOL, -2.03% moved 2% lower, and ArcelorMittal SA MT, -2.83% was off 2.8%.
China is a key consumer of industrial and precious metals.
“China has expressed a desire to move to a consumer-led economy, but these figures pose a problem for the country as it struggles to boost the non-manufacturing sector,” said Ana Thaker, market economist at PhillipCapital UK, in a note.
“China has been unusually quiet of late, with all eyes on Brexit and the FOMC this month. However, the importance of growth in the country for the global economy should not be underestimated,” she added.
FOMC refers to the Federal Open Market Committee, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy-making group, which could raise U.S. interest rates when it meets for two days in the middle of June.
On Tuesday, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.8%, breaking a five-session winning streak, but ending May higher by 1.8% for its best month since November.
On Thursday, investors will hear more about the state of the eurozone economy when the European Central Bank releases its monetary policy decision, followed by a press conference by ECB President Mario Draghi.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Wednesday raised its eurozone growth forecast for this year to 1.6%, from a previous estimate of 1.3%, but warned that overall global growth is weakening.
Movers: Advancers in Europe included Royal Ahold NV AH, +2.49% Shares rose 2.5% as the Dutch supermarket operator posted a 13% rise in first-quarter profit to 241 million euros ($269 million) on a 4% rise in sales. Ahold is merging with Belgium’s Delhaize Group DELB, +2.27% Delhaize shares gained 2.3%.
Technicolor SA shares TCH, +3.33% brightened by 3.3%. Morgan Stanley raised its rating to overweight from equal weight on the cinema production services provider and TV set-top boxes manufacturer.
Indexes: Germany’s DAX 30 DAX, -0.57% lost 0.6% to end at 10,204.44, and France’s CAC 40 PX1, -0.67% shed 0.7%, falling to 4,475.39.
The U.K’s FTSE 100 UKX, -0.62% shed 0.6% to finish at 6,191.93.
The euro EURUSD, +0.1788% was up 0.3% at $1.1167.
