Chinese Data Weigh on European Stocks
European stocks closed lower Thursday as investors fretted about potential tightening of monetary policy in China, the country which has been the main driver of global growth, while lackluster U.S. economic data weighed on Wall Street.</br></br>The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.3% to 257.55, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell 0.4% to 5617.26, France's CAC-40 Index declined 0.4% to 3928.98, and Germany's DAX eased 0.1% to 5928.63. Late in Europe, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.12% at 10,556.07. Asian stocks were mixed coming into Europe's trading day.</br></br>At the same time, the dollar strengthened against the euro, but slipped slightly against the yen, as U.S. trade data showed a shrinking trade deficit, mainly due to slowing imports, prompting concern about the pace of the U.S. recovery. In addition, weekly jobless claims data showed a smaller-than-expected drop.</br></br>On Friday, investors will look out for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment measure in the U.S. as well as European industrial production figures.</br></br>Early Thursday, strong economic readings out of China reignited concerns that Beijing may try to curb growth in order to damp potential excesses. China's consumer price index rose a higher-than-expected 2.7% in February and industrial production surged 20.7% in the first two months of the year compared with the year-earlier period.