European equities reach five-month minimum

On Thursday, European equities dived because fresh losses in emerging markets as well as fears that the US government will follow through its imitative to have an extra $200 billion of China’s products taxed definitely kept market participants on the edge.

The STOXX 600 reached its lowest value since early April in early trade – it slumped by nearly 0.3%. The DAX dived by approximately 0,3% in Germany. Furthermore, the FTSE 100 sank by about 0.2% in Great Britain.

A consultation period on the proposal to impose new levies on China is scheduled to conclude on Thursday, thus giving a green light for a long-awaited decision. However, no one knows for sure how quickly it’s going to occur.

The vast majority of sectors were seen in the red. However, basic resources equities turned out to be top losers, suppressed by a more than 3% sink in miner BHP Billiton that traded the former dividend.

In addition to this, utilities appeared to be another bright spot. As a matter of fact, Italy's state-controlled Enel soared by up to 1.6% due to the fact that Goldman Sachs had the stock upgraded to buy. At the same time, Centrica managed to add nearly 3.7% in Great Britain right after the local watch dog set an energy price cap, which was at the lower range of experts’ estimates.

The leading performer on the STOXX was represented by Safran. Its equities managed to ascend to another record maximum after the world's number three aerospace supplier increased full-year estimates following better-than-anticipated outcomes in the first half on firm demand for spares as well as services.

Besides this, Weir Group led losers, heading south by 5.9% after the pipe maker for the mining and energy industries told there were initial indications of pricing pressure.

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