15/12/2015
European shares drop on weaker oil prices, Draghi comments
European stocks slipped on Monday, trailing losses in Asia, on lower oil prices, where ECB President Marion Draghi hinted that inflation would reach target.
Crude oil fell for a fourth consecutive session to $34.67 a barrel, the lowest level since early 2009, amid persisting glut concerns.
The weak oil prices pushed energy shares down, while the drop in the yuan raised concerns about China’s economic outlook.
China’s yuan renminbi plunged to a 4-1/2 year low against the U.S. dollar on Monday, as the PBoC set a midpoint of 6.4495, compared to 6.4358 on Friday.
The improvement in industrial production data from both China and the euro area could not boost the sentiment.
China’s factory output climbed to a five-month high in November, while the euro area’s industrial production soared 1.9 percent in October from a year earlier.
ECB Draghi said on Monday inflation will reach target after the measures announced this month, lower expectations of seeing additional measures the coming months.
However, he reiterated that the bank is ready to all policy tools to bring inflation to target.
European FTSEurofirst 300 index slipped 0.42 percent, the lowest level in two months, while Europe STOXX 600 plummeted 0.32 percent.
Germany’s DAX 30 edged down 0.53 percent to 10,285.21 points and France’s CAC 40 shed 0.05 percent to 4,547.90. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.17 percent to 5,962.58.