By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Euro jumps after eurozone PMIs easily beat forecasts

European stocks headed lower on Friday, with the delayed health-care-bill vote in the U.S. keeping investors on edge going into the weekend.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.3% to 376.20, setting it on track for a 0.6% weekly slide. That would mark the benchmark's worst week since early February.

Stocks in Europe have been falling four out of the five trading days this week, as traders have looked to the U.S. where President Donald Trump has been struggling to push through his promised repeal of Obama's Affordable Care Act. The vote was scheduled for Thursday, but pushed back a day because of opposition from some Republicans.

Read: Trump ultimatum: Pass health bill now or live with Obamacare (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-ultimatum-pass-health-bill-now-or-live-with-obamacare-2017-03-23)

"Yesterday's vote in congress has been delayed and the president is threatening that failure to pass the bill will see him move straight on to tax reform," said Tony Cross, market analyst for TopTradr, in a note.

"The market wants to see progress here, as it's the prospect of tax breaks that has been very much behind the equity market rally, but without the health-care overhaul, the scope for change is rather limited. If equity markets are looking for a reason to sell off, this could very well prove to be the trigger," he added.

U.S stocks closed lower on Thursday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wall-street-stocks-lined-up-for-cautious-moves-ahead-of-yellen-speech-health-care-vote-2017-03-23), but futures pointed to a stronger open on Wall Street on Friday.

Euro rally: The euro jumped to $1.0802 after a round of flash purchasing managers indexes from France, Germany and the eurozone all beat expectations.

The eurozone composite for March rose to the highest level in almost six years at 56.7, breezing past forecasts of a 55.8 reading.

"While the eurozone economy currently looks to be on the front foot, it remains to be seen if activity is hampered by consumers becoming more cautious as purchasing power is squeezed by higher inflation and limited wage growth in most countries," said Howard Archer, chief U.K. and European economist at IHS Markit.

"There is also still considerable scope for political uncertainties to negatively affect growth over the coming months -- elections in France and Germany, political fragility in Italy, problems in Greece, Brexit negotiations coming to the fore after the U.K. triggers Article 50 on 29 March, and uncertainties over the Trump administration's policies," he added.

In regards to the French election, a fresh poll showed centrist Emmanuel Macron coming out on top in the first round of voting on April 23, one point ahead of far-right Marine Le Pen.

Movers: Shares of Smiths Group PLC (SMIN.LN) jumped 3.3% after the engineering company said its pretax profit more than doubled in the first half (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/smiths-group-profit-more-than-doubles-dividend-up-2017-03-24) thanks to some robust sales and profit from a disposal.

Merck KGaA (MRK.XE) climbed 2.9% after the German drugmaker received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Bavencio intravenous treatment.

Read:Looking for bank stocks? Ditch the U.S. and head to Europe, Citi says (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/looking-for-bank-stocks-ditch-the-us-and-head-to-europe-citi-says-2017-03-22)

Indexes: Germany's DAX 30 index dropped 0.1% to 12,032.93, while France's CAC 40 index fell 0.4% to 5,015.28.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1% to 7,336.32, setting the benchmark on track for its worst week since January (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-set-for-worst-week-since-january-as-investors-eye-us-health-care-bill-2017-03-24).

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 24, 2017 06:21 ET (10:21 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
FTSE 100
Index Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more FTSE 100 Charts.
FTSE 100
Index Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more FTSE 100 Charts.