Worsened economic data from China dimmed the mood of European markets

European markets ended the trading session on Monday with declines after China's latest data showed that the country's economy grew at its slowest pace since 1990.

The pan-European index Stoxx 600 was down by 0.26%, with most sectors and major stock exchanges ending the session on a red territory.

With a minimum growth of 0.03%, the British FTSE 100 ended on Monday, reaching a level of 6,970.59 points. The German benchmark DAX 30 recorded a more significant decline of 0.62%, ending the session at 11,136.20 points. The French CAC 40 declined by 0.17%, reaching a level of 4,867.78 points.

The markets today were mostly affected by the news of the slowing growth of the Chinese economy. According to data released on Monday, China's gross domestic product in 2018 has risen by 6.6% from the previous year - in line with analysts' expectations, albeit at its slowest pace in nearly three decades.

This is another sign of the weakness of the Chinese economy and emerges at a key moment during the Beijing-Washington trade talks. During the weekend, the US President Donald Trump said that an agreement with China was possible, but rejected reports claiming that the United States is considering concessions of the already imposed tariffs.

The news, reported by US media on Friday, helped the growth of global markets.

Meanwhile, the European markets were influenced by the continuing British crisis on Brexit deal. Theresa May set out her Brexit plan B to MPs, which she was obliged to do under the EU Withdrawal Act after the defeat of her plan in the House of Commons last week.

The only notable change to her initial deal is that the government has scrapped the 65 GBP (73.69 EUR) fee EU citizens were going to pay to secure the right to continue living in the UK after Brexit. The fee secured citizens a "settled status" giving them access to healthcare and education.

In the forex markets, the price of the Euro against the dollar rises slightly to 1.1369 USD. The British pound also rises slightly against the US dollar to a price of 1.2897 USD.

Corporate stocks performance

On Monday, however, some of the worst performing stocks are those of the telecommunications sector, pulled down by Italian Telecom Italia and the French Orange.

The worst performing stocks during the day were those of the German chemical company Henkel, which previously published its preliminary financial results and announced that it is increasing its investments by about 300 million EUR. The company's shares sank by nearly 10%, or 9.69 EUR, to trade at 87.33 EUR at the close.

Other losers during the session were RWE AG ST O.N. and Deutsche Telekom AG Na, which stocks declined by 3.11% and 2.42%, respectively.

On the reverse pole are the shares of the French airline Air France-KLM, which rose by more than 5% after Davy Research increased its assession for the stocks.

The top performers on DAX 30 were Evotec AG O.N., Siltronic AG, and Fraport AG, which rose by 3.46%, 3.24% and 2.98%, respectively.

Meanwhile, Danone SA added 0.95%, or 0.59 EUR, to end at 62.94 EUR and Airbus Group was up by 0.90%, or 0.84 EUR, to 94.50 EUR in late trade.

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://financeandmarkets.com/worsened-economic-data-from-china-dimmed-the-mood-of-european-markets/

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