European stock markets fell slightly on Thursday. Early losses were driven mainly by healthcare and industrial company shares. Investors are now focusing on speeches from several U.S. Federal Reserve officials and upcoming economic data, hoping to get a clearer idea of the Fed’s future interest rate plans.
The main pan-European stock index, the STOXX 600, dropped by 0.5%. Most national stock markets also started lower, with Germany’s main index and the UK’s FTSE 100 both down 0.4%.
Healthcare stocks were down 1.1%. The decline was led by German medical technology company Siemens Healthineers, whose shares slid 6%. This followed an announcement by the U.S. Commerce Department that it is opening new national security investigations into the import of various products, including medical items and industrial machinery. The UK’s Smith+Nephew also saw its shares fall by 1.1%.
Other sectors lagging the market included construction materials and industrial goods and services.
However, there was a bright spot: Swedish fashion retailer H&M saw its stock jump 9.4% after reporting a third-quarter profit that was significantly higher than analysts had expected.
On the FX front, the Chinese yuan strengthened against the US dollar on Thursday. This was due to two main factors: traders were betting the US dollar would continue to weaken following the Federal Reserve’s decision to resume cutting interest rates, and the Chinese stock market was performing well.
By early morning, the yuan was up 0.11% against the dollar. Before the market opened, China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, set a daily reference rate for the yuan that was stronger than analysts had predicted.
Meanwhile, the US dollar was stable in Asian trading after increasing overnight, with the dollar index near a three-week high.
The dollar index is now close to achieving a gain for the entire month.
The euro and the British pound remained mostly unchanged after both had dropped by 0.6% against the dollar on Wednesday.
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