LONDON (SHARECAST) - Europe’s leading exchanges are still mixed, with retailers among the main fallers after Carrefour, the world's second-biggest retailer, cut its 2008 sales growth forecast.
The French group slashed its sales growth forecast to 6.5% at constant exchange rates from a previous target of 7%.
“Over the last weeks, Carrefour has observed deteriorating global consumption trends, particularly in Europe,” said the group in a short statement after the close yesterday.
“In this context, Carrefour has chosen to continue its aggressive promotional policy to meet the needs of its customers,” it added.
BNP Paribas is still leading the fallers in Paris, extending yesterday’s losses, after the bank warned Tuesday evening that its corporate and investment banking unit made a €710m loss in the first 11 months of the year.
French peers Societe Generale and Credit Agricole are also among the worst performers.
Across the markets, the German DAX gained 36 points to 4,745 the French CAC is 24 points lower at 3,216, while the Swiss market rose 6 points to 5,555.
In economic news, the euro zone trade balance swung into surplus in October, according to official EU figures on Thursday. The 15 countries sharing the euro were in surplus by €900m in October compared to a deficit of €4.5bn in September and a surplus of €4.2bn last year.
“Eurozone exporters look to face difficult times ahead and this adds to the increasingly worrying outlook for the Eurozone economy,” said said Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight.
“At least though, the sharp retreat in oil prices from a record high of $147/barrel in July to recently trade as low as $40/barrel will increasingly help the Eurozone's trade balance,” he added.
