(RTTNews) - The French market is see-sawing between gains and losses and is moderately down in afternoon trading Thursday. While better-than-expected retail sales data from the U.K. gave rise to optimism, dismal jobs figures from the U.S. dampened sentiment.
Crude for September delivery is sliding $0.19 at $75.23 per barrel and December gold is adding $4.5 at $1235.9 an ounce.
In economic news, U.K.'s seasonally adjusted retail sales volume including automotive fuel rose 1.1% month-on-month in July, following the 0.7% rise in June, the Office for National Statistics said. Economists had forecast a 0.3% increase.
German annual producer price inflation continued to increase in July, a report by the Federal Statistical Office showed. The producer price index rose 3.7% year-on-year in July, faster than a 1.7% growth in the previous month. Economists were looking for an increase of 3.3%.
In the U.S., first time claims for unemployment benefits showed another unexpected increase in the week ended August 14, according to a report released by the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims rose to 500,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 488,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to slip to 475,000 from the 484,000 originally reported for the previous week
After opening above the flat line at 3,667, the CAC 40 index dipped into negative territory in the early trade. Although it recovered from the lows in the early afternoon session and hovered in the green for over two hours, the index is currently losing 0.53%.
Cement giant Lafarge is leading the losers on the index, having fallen 2.22%. Saint Gobain, Vinci and Bouygues are seeing declines.
Among banks, Societe Generale is declining 0.75% and Credit Agricole is slipping 0.42%. Dexia is down 0.34% and BNP Paribas is losing 0.15%.
Car manufacturer Peugeot is losing 1.30%, and Renault is down 0.05%. Electric utility EDF and insurer Axa are witnessing downward momentum.
Those on the gaining side include grocery retailer Carrefour, media firm Vivendi, steel giant ArcelorMittal and chipmaker STMicroelectronics.
Across Asia/Pacific, all major markets ended in the green. Australia's All Ordinaries added 0.13%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.81% and Japan's Nikkei 225 gathered 1.32%. India's BSE Sensex advanced 1.08%, the highest since February 2008, on optimism about the monsoon aiding crop output.
In the U.S., the Dow is slipping 0.59%, the Nasdaq is down 0.54% and the S&P 500 is retreating 0.66%.
