European stocks drop as data disappoints
London's FTSE 100 index of top companies slipped 0.27 percent to stand at 6,806.72 points.
LONDON (AFP) - European stock markets fell on Monday as traders reacted to a further drop in eurozone business activity that offset positive news for Chinese manufacturing, analysts said.
London s FTSE 100 index of top companies slipped 0.27 percent to stand at 6,806.72 points approaching midday in the capital.
Frankfurt s DAX 30 lost 0.35 percent to 9,952.11 points and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.34 percent to 4,525.72 compared with Friday s closing levels.
Milan slumped 1.08 percent and the Madrid market gave up 0.16 percent. The euro fell to $1.3582 from $1.3597 late in New York on Friday.
"Weaker PMI figures from Europe have stymied any chance of an early bounce for European markets, and have cancelled out some of the good news from China, where the manufacturing PMI moved into expansion territory for the first time this year," said Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG traders.
"Miners have been in demand this morning thanks to the (Chinese) news, which has gone some way to leaving the FTSE as the relative outperformer."
BHP Billiton won 2.0 percent to 1,939.75 pence and Rio Tinto gained 1.87 percent to 3,135 pence.
Eurozone business activity slipped for the second month running in June, suggesting a modest recovery could be stalling, a closely watched survey showed on Monday.
Markit Economics said its Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for June, a leading indicator of overall economic activity, slipped to 52.8 points from 53.5 in May, coming in at the weakest level since December.
The data showed that growth remained robust in Germany, despite weakening slightly, but that the downturn deepened in France, the country increasingly generating the most worry in the currency bloc.
- Alstom shares slip -
In Paris, shares in power and rail group Alstom slipped 0.11 percent to 27.97 euros, shedding esarly gains on a weekend deal for the French state to become a shareholder as US firm General Electric obtained the gas turbine division of the group.
But brokers Aurel BGC said that the formula agreed for the government to buy Alstom shares from conglomerate Bouygues at 35 euros per share or more was unnecessarily complex.
At Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, analysts said that the market might not like the deal for the state to acquire 20 percent of Alstom.
In Asia, stock markets ended mixed on Monday amid the positive Chinese manufacturing figures.
The early purchasing managers index (PMI) figures from banking giant HSBC added to an upbeat morning for the region, which was already in positive territory after another record close on Wall Street.
HSBC said early results showed its PMI of Chinese manufacturing came in at 50.8 this month, up from a final reading of 49.4 in May.
Anything above 50 indicates growth and anything below suggests contraction.
The latest figure is the first time the reading has come in above 50 since December s 50.5, and will raise hopes that a slowdown in the world s second biggest economy has bottomed out.
It also follows a recent spate of data indicating a pick-up in the Asian economic giant after the government introduced some measures to kickstart growth.
In foreign exchange deals on Monday, the British pound rose to $1.7021 from $1.7010 late on Friday.
The euro slipped to 79.79 British pence from 79.93 pence.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold climbed to $1,315.38 an ounce from $1,312.50 on Friday.
