European Futures Down After Terrorist Attack in Nice
European stock futures reversed early gains to trade lower before the opening on Friday after a terrorist attack on a key French public holiday killed more than 80 people.
Cac 40 futures were recently down 0.36%. The benchmark index had closed up 1.16% on Thursday at 4,385.52.
Dax futures were down 0.42%, though FTSE 100 futures were down 0.49%.
A truck drove at high-speed late on Thursday night into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the Mediterranean city of Nice. French President Francois Hollande called the attack terrorism. The driver was shot dead and weapons were found inside the truck. President Obama condemned the attack "in the strongest terms."
The outrage could hurt European leisure and airline stocks when trading begins. Virgin Australia was down 2.3% in Sydney, though Qantas (QABSY) was up more than 2% and Cathay Pacific rose in Hong Kong;
S&P 500 mini futures were recently down 0.22%.
Asian markets were mixed, though Chinese indices were mainly in the red after second-quarter GDP growth came in above forecasts at 6.7%, the same pace of growth as in the first quarter. Analysts had been expecting growth of 6.6% and attributed the higher number to state intervention.
"While China is almost certainly expanding at a slower rate than its GDP data suggest, rapid state sector investment does appear to have kept growth broadly stable last quarter," noted Capital Economics. "Growth is more likely to pick up over coming months than slow further, but a lasting turnaround is not on the cards."
The CSI 300 was recently down 0.23% at 3,269.26.
In Tokyo WhatsApp rival Line (LN) - Get Report soared 50% on its debut, ending a stellar week for Japanese benchmarks amid hopes of Bank of Japan stimuli.
The
Nikkei 225
was up 0.65% at 16,492.10.