A Quiet Day for European Trading
Stock prices fell and the dollar ended mixed in Europe on Thursday as the lack of trading on Wall Street left financial markets with little direction.
Investors said European trading was quiet because of the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, where financial markets were closed.
In other trading, oil prices rose but gold fell slightly.
After rising in early Asian trading, the dollar was locked in a tight range in Europe. In London, it rose to 1.6160 German marks from 1.6145 Wednesday, its closing level in London and New York.
Against the yen, the dollar fell to 129.75 in London from 130.05 on Wednesday. It ended slightly below Wednesday’s New York close of 129.90.
Lacking a lead from Wall Street, London’s share market ended a dull session weaker.
In London, the Financial Times-Stock Exchange index of 100 leading shares closed down 18.9 points at 2,428.6 after a string of weak company profit reports ate into earlier gains. Futures-related selling also weighed on the market.
In Germany, shares were mixed, with the 30-share DAX index rising 2 points to end at 1,588.16.
In Paris, the CAC-40 lost 2.98 points to close at 1,754.88.
In energy markets, the price of a barrel of Brent blend crude oil for January delivery added 23 cents to $20.20.
Gold slipped $2.05 to $366.20 an ounce from its previous London close of $368.25.
Financial markets were expected to stay subdued Friday as traders in the United States stretched the holiday into a long weekend.
European traders said they remained concerned about the poor state of the U.S. economy, which made them bearish toward the dollar, and this could become more evident when fresh economic data is released next week.
“The dollar will be down to 1.50 (marks) in December,” said Chris Zwermann at Sal Oppenheim & Cie in Frankfurt. “There is nothing left to buy in the U.S., given the shape of the share, bond and property markets, so why buy dollars?”
The dollar had climbed Wednesday after Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze was reported to have warned that another coup was possible. Financial analysts and the Soviet foreign ministry played down the report as a repeat of past warnings.
Asian stocks ended mostly lower in light trading Thursday.
In Tokyo, stocks fell for the 11th time in the past 12 sessions, with the widely watched Nikkei average sliding 192.86 points, or 0.8%, to end at 22,780.42.
