European Markets Fall Back In The Red After Modest Early Gains

Stock markets across Europe, which made modest early gains Friday after a buoyant performance in Asian bourses, pared their profits and are now in the red. The pan-European STOXX 600 opened over 0.1 percent higher but later fell 0.7 percent. Early gains on London’s FTSE 100 also fizzled out, and the index is now trading slightly down at 6,183.3 points.

The German DAX and France’s CAC 40 are both down over 0.5 percent as investors exercise caution after an extremely volatile week in global equity markets.

“Uncertainties regarding China and the emerging world are likely to linger,” Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital, told the New York Times Friday, after Asian shares reported strong profit during the day’s trade. However, he added, “despite the recent set-back, share markets are likely to remain in a broad rising trend.”

The People’s Bank of China injected 60 billion yuan ($9.39 billion) into the country’s banking system through short-term liquidity operations (SLOs) Friday, according to Reuters. This marks the second time this week that the central bank has issued SLO loans to reduce fluctuations in liquidity and stabilize interbank funding costs. The bank had, on Wednesday, announced a cash injection of 140 billion yuan ($21.8 billion) into the interbank money market.

The gains in Asia were led by Japan’s Nikkei 225, which closed 3 percent higher, and the Shanghai Composite index, which gained 4.8 percent.

The mixed picture in Europe comes a day after all major indexes in the U.S. closed more than 2 percent higher, recouping a huge chunk of losses accrued during the sharp six-day slump. However, at 4.30 a.m. EDT Friday, U.S. stock index futures were down nearly 0.7 percent, with the Dow indicating losses of 114 points at the open.

After Thursday’s strong revised estimate of U.S. second-quarter GDP growth, oil prices also soared more than 10 percent -- their biggest gain in six years. Currently, however, Brent crude is down 0.6 percent at $47.28 a barrel.