European stocks close lower for seventh straight session as mining shares slide

European stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday, logging their seventh consecutive negative session amid signs of persistent inflationary pressures in the U.S.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally ended down 0.16%. It represents the longest losing streak for the index since February 2018, according to Reuters.

— Sam Meredith

U.S. stocks opened lower Thursday.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.5%, falling for a fourth straight day, while the S&P 500 slumped 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near the flatline.

— Samantha Subin

Bruce Carnegie-Brown, chairman at Lloyd's of London, talks about the insurance market.

Duncan Wrigley, chief China economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, says forthcoming data is likely to show an acceleration in investment in China's traditional sectors, including infrastructure and property.

Germany is heading for a recession in the second half of the year as it struggles with downturns in manufacturing and services, according to forecasts published Thursday.

"Battered by global headwinds and reeling from high energy prices, German manufacturing has fallen into a significant downturn that will likely push the entire economy back into at least a mild recession," Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, said in a note.

Schmieding said the deterioration in business confidence, fall in new orders and broad-based drop in output pointed to contractions of 0.1% and 0.3% in the coming quarters, with risks tilted to a steeper decline.

However, Berenberg does not expect the recession to last into 2024 given stabilizations in global inventory and Chinese growth.

Germany's ifo Institute, meanwhile, confirmed its forecast for an annual contraction of 0.4% in the German economy, followed by 1.4% growth next year.

"Contrary to expectations so far, the recovery will probably fail to materialize in the second half of the year. The slowdown is continuing, and this trend is seen across almost all industries," said Timo Wollmershäuser, head of forecasts at ifo. 

— Jenni Reid

British insurer Direct Line soared 17.2% in morning trade as it reported an operating loss but announced the sale of its brokered commercial insurance business as it overhauls its structure.

Manufacturer Melrose Industries climbed 7.6% as it upgraded its guidance in half-year results.

At the bottom of the Stoxx 600 index, Harbour Energy fell 6.5% after analysts and Peel Hunt downgraded its rating to "hold" from "add."

— Jenni Reid

Fresh data on Thursday reinforced the extent of the U.K.'s house price slide this summer, with August prices down by 1.9% on the previous month, the steepest decline since November.

The figures are from mortgage lender Halifax and follow prior surveys showing a sharp slowdown from Zoopla and Rightmove.

House prices were 4.6% lower year-on-year, the biggest drop since 2009, largely due to the record high property prices seen in summer 2022 — though the average price is still £40,000 ($49,992) above its pre-pandemic level.

"It's fair to say that house prices have proven more resilient than expected so far this year, despite higher interest rates weighing on buyer demand," said Kim Kinnaird, director at Halifax Mortgages.

"However, there is always a lag-effect where rate increases are concerned, and we may now be seeing a greater impact from higher mortgage costs flowing through to house prices."

— Jenni Reid

The British pound nudged lower against the U.S. dollar on Thursday morning, extending losses after hitting a three-month low on Wednesday.

Sterling was down 0.1% at $1.249 at 6:40 a.m. London time.

U.K. currency has come under pressure from broad dollar gains on the back of renewed U.S. inflationary fears, combined with Wednesday comments from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey that the central bank is "much nearer now to the top of the [rate hike] cycle."

— Jenni Reid

China's exports and imports fell less than expected in August, declining 8.8% and 7.3% year on year respectively.

This is less steep than the fall of 9.2% in exports and 9% in imports expected by economists polled by Reuters.

The country's trade balance came in at $68.36 billion, less than the $80.6 billion seen in June and also lower than the $73.9 billion expected in the Reuters poll.

— Lim Hui Jie

More increases may be ahead for the Federal Reserve depending on the data, but the central bank can take a more patient approach to policymaking, according to Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins.

"Overall, we are well positioned to proceed cautiously in this uncertain economic environment, recognizing the risks while remaining resolute and data-dependent, with the flexibility to adjust as conditions warrant," she said in prepared remarks for a speech in Boston.

Despite some promising signs on the inflation front, she said "further tightening could be warranted."

— Jeff Cox

Goldman is overweight on China's e-commerce sector, as China's e-commerce take rates – which stands at around 3% to 4% - is one of the lowest compared to that of its peers which have rates at "high single-digits-to-teens".

The analysts have named two e-commerce stocks in their conviction list to watch for the rest of the year, in their list of top Chinese stock picks.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Morgan Stanley has named a European bank as a "top pick" and expects its stock to rally by 35% over the next 12 months.

The Wall Street bank has predicted that the European lender's profits will rise in 2024 despite the threat of windfall taxes on the continent.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

European markets are expected to open higher Thursday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 32 points higher at 8,365, Germany's DAX up 25 points at 18,510, France's CAC 7 points higher at 8,143 and Italy's FTSE MIB up 59 points at 33,908, according to data from IG.

Earnings are due from Ferrovial, Telefonica, EDP, Enel, Pirelli and Salvatore Ferragamo.

— Holly Ellyatt