European Markets Pulled Back Ahead Of China Data & Fed Meeting

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Friday's session with modest losses, extending yesterday's weakness. The pull back was attributed to investor uncertainty ahead of the release of some Chinese economic data this weekend and the Federal Reserve meeting next week. China is due to release its industrial production and retail sales for August on Sunday.

The Federal Reserve will conclude its 2-day monetary policy meeting on Thursday next week. Analysts are still split regarding whether the Federal Reserve will announce an increase in interest rates. While upbeat economic data points to the first rate hike in nearly a decade, the recent market volatility and concerns about developing economies may keep the Fed on hold.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased by 1.00 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.88 percent.

The DAX of Germany dropped by 0.85 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell by 1.04 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. declined by 0.62 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.07 percent.

In Frankfurt, Merck fell by 1.17 percent. The company plans to submit its investigational treatment Cladribine Tablets for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis for registration in Europe.

E.ON declined by 4.08 percent and RWE fell by 3.04 percent.

In Paris, Technip tumbled by 4.48 percent and Total dipped by 0.64 percent.

Orange dropped by 3.23 percent and Alcatel-Lucent lost 0.99 percent.

In London, Rio Tinto rose by 0.76 percent after UBS upgraded its rating on the stock to "Buy" from "Neutral."

Kingfisher climbed by 1.39 percent. UBS upgraded its rating on the stock to "Buy" from "Neutral."

Wm Morrison Supermarkets declined by 3.34 percent and J Sainsbury weakened by 2.30 percent. Tesco also decreased by 2.26 percent.

Telecommunications firm TeliaSonera and telecom company Telenor announced the withdrawal of the proposed merger of their Danish operations. TeliaSonera sank 8.85 percent in Stockholm and Telenor lost 1.64 percent in Oslo.

German consumer price inflation remained stable as initially estimated in August, final data from Destatis showed Friday. The consumer price index rose 0.2 percent year-on-year, the same as in July. The rate matched the preliminary estimate published on August 28. The measure climbed for a seventh month running.

Germany's wholesale prices declined at a faster pace in August, figures from Destatis showed Friday. Wholesale prices dropped 1.1 percent year-over-year in August, following a 0.5 percent stable rate of decrease in the previous month. The wholesale price index has been falling since July 2013.

The French current account balance turned to deficit in July largely due to the decline in surplus on services, the Bank of France showed Friday. The current account deficit totaled EUR 0.4 billion in July compared to a surplus of EUR 0.8 billion in June.

U.K. construction output decreased unexpectedly in July after recovering in the previous month, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Friday. The volume of construction output fell a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent month-over-month in July, reversing a 0.9 percent increase in June. Economists had expected a 0.5 percent climb for the month.

With a drop in energy prices offset by a continued increase in service prices, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that U.S. producer prices came in flat in the month of August. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand was unchanged in August after rising by 0.2 percent in July. Economists had expected the index to edge down by 0.1 percent.