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European Stocks Decline Hit By Fresh Sanctions On Russia(Alliance News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) VIENNA (Alliance News) - European stocks fell broadly on Thursday as Ukraine worries resurfaced in the wake of fresh sanctions against Russia. The US and EU have slapped fresh sanctions on Russia, targeting major banks and energy companies, given the country's continued provocations in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denounced the latest sanctions, saying they will boomerang and hit back at US national interests. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is declining 0.6% and the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major UK companies, is losing half a percent while the key benchmark indexes in Germany, France and the UK are down between 0.4% and 0.6%. Alfa Laval AB is tumbling 3.6% in Stockholm after the company reported lower EBITDA margin in its second quarter and warned it sees sequentially flat demand in the third quarter. TeliaSonera AB is declining 2.2% as the Swedish telecommunications firm reported a decline in second-quarter profit on weak net sales and cut its full-year revenue outlook. Carrefour Group is gaining a percent in Paris. The French grocery retailer reported second-quarter 2014 consolidated sales of 20.52 billion euros, a 5.2% increase at constant exchange rates and a 0.3% improvement at current exchange rates year-over-year. SAP shares are climbing 3.9% in Frankfurt after the business software giant lifted its forecast for fiscal 2014 cloud subscriptions and support revenue, and backed software and software-related service revenue and operating profit forecast. The company reported strong growth in cloud revenue in the second quarter. In economic releases, Eurozone inflation held steady at 0.5% in what the European Central Bank calls the danger zone, as initially estimated in June, final data from Eurostat showed. Prices gained only 0.1% from the previous month. Eurozone construction output fell 1.5% in May after increasing 0.4% in the previous month, which was revised down from 0.8% reported initially, figures from Eurostat showed. Elsewhere, the Asian markets erased early gains to end mostly lower as concerns that the Federal Reserve may have to begin raising interest rates sooner offset positive US earnings and economic news. Trading in the index futures indicate a lower open, a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high for the 15th time this year, buoyed by merger news, solid earnings and economic news. Investors eye reports on weekly jobless claims, housing starts and Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity later in the day for clues on the timing of interest rate rises. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX |