(RTTNews) - The European markets are showing a mixed trend in afternoon trading Thursday, with the U.K.'s FTSE 100 seeing the upside, while the German DAX and the French CAC 40 are on the decline.
Crude for September delivery is trading down $1.38 per barrel at $76.64 and gold is rising $8.0 an ounce at $1207.2.
On the economic front, Eurozone seasonally adjusted industrial production dropped 0.1% month-on-month in June, Eurostat said. Economists were expecting a 0.6% rise. This was the first decline in four months and followed an upwardly revised 1.1% rise in May.
In Spain, consumer price measure of inflation rose in July after the government raised the value added tax at the start of the month, official figures showed. Consumer prices increased 1.9% year-on-year in July after rising 1.5% in the previous month, in line with analyst expectations, the Madrid-based National Statistics Institute said. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy items, rose to 0.8% from 0.4%.
Italy's inflation rate rose to its highest in 19 months in July as higher electricity and transportation costs boosted the overall price index. Statistical office ISTAT said consumer prices were up 1.7% year-on-year, in line with expectations. This is higher than the 1.3% inflation rate in June.
The UK.'s FTSE 100 began trading at 5,245 and has been moving from one side to the other side of the unchanged line. After opening below the flat mark at 6,142, the German DAX managed to break into positive territory, but busy selling has kept the index in the red during most of the session. France's CAC 40 also began trading below the flat line at 3,611. Although the index broke into positive territory in the early morning session, it soon lost momentum and dipped into negative territory.
The FTSE 100 is currently gaining 0.07%, while the DAX is trailing 0.36% and the CAC 40 is slipping 0.33%.
In London, Vedanta Resources is declining 3.69% after reports suggested that the miner is looking for a stake in Cairn Energy whose stock rose 2.85%. Other miners Rio Tinto, Eurasian Natural Resources, Xstrata, Kazakhmys and Antofagasta are declining between 1.35% and 0.90%.
Among banks, Barclays is declining 1.81% and Lloyds Banking Group is down 0.15%. However, Standard Chartered is rising 1.25% and Royal Bank of Scotland is gaining 0.80%.
SABMiller is adding 2.25% after Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch Inbev reported higher second-quarter profit. Diageo is up 1.82%.
