European stock markets inch down because of geopolitics

On Thursday, stock indices of Western Europe concluded trading with a dive due to the growth of geopolitical tensions, in particular, worries that the United States will deliver a missile strike on Syria.

The index of the key businesses of the Stoxx Europe 600 region decreased by 0.6% hitting 379.48 by the end of the trading session.

The British FTSE 100 fell by 0.1%, the French CAC 40 lost 0.6%, the German DAX dived 0.8%. The Spanish IBEX 35 and the Italian FTSE MIB decreased respectively by 0.3% and 0.7%.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump warned Russia of the serious intention to hit Syria with so-called "smart" missiles and also invited Moscow to get ready for this by criticizing it for supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Traders are also monitoring the news about the investigation of the alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election conducted by the team of special prosecutor Robert Mueller, and they’re waiting for fresh signals regarding the trade dispute with China.

The issue of global trade disputes temporarily fell into the background, and the markets took a wait-and-see attitude to see D.Trump's reaction to the recent statements of Chairman Xi Jinping, as MarketWatch informed.

Xi Jinping, speaking at the Boao Forum on Tuesday, pledged to give foreign companies greater access to the financial as well as manufacturing sectors of the PRC, to step up imports, and to drastically improve the protection of intellectual property, not to mention providing a more transparent and manageable environment for foreign investment.

On Wednesday, Ian Gang, the new head of the People's Bank of China uncovered a number of concrete measures to further expand the access of foreign investors to the country's financial sector.

Equities of Barry Callebaut headed south by 8.4%.

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