European shares slid lower on Thursday, mostly in profit taking moves sparked by disappointing Chinese retail sales this morning. Even if trading optimism has recently been boosted by vaccine developments, today’s poor Chinese data underline that market confidence remains feeble and reminded some investors the path to a full recovery may be longer than initially estimated.
Today is set to be a volatile day for EU stocks as investors will scrutinize the ECB’s online press conference where Christine Lagarde is expected to answer questions on the strength and efficiency of the central bank’s emergency bond-buying program. On the other side of the ocean, stock traders will be waiting for the next tranche of corporate results with Bank of America, Netflix, and Morgan Stanley due later today.
