(RTTNews) - European stocks are likely to open on a mixed note Thursday, weighed down by a subdued closing on Wall Street overnight and mixed Asian cues.

Asian stocks exhibited a mixed trend amid cautious trades on Thursday on doubts about the pace of economic recovery. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei fell by 1.32 percent to a four-month closing low, dragged down by banks and exporters.

Crude oil prices drifted lower in Asian trading today after breaching $80 a barrel mark, spurred mainly by U.S inventories data showing draw-downs in crude oil, gasoline and distillates.

In economic news, the Bank of England’s member Kate Barker said in an interview to regional paper Shropshire Star that despite economic data showing the UK economy to have technically come out of recession, an actual economic recovery could be a long way off. Barker said she would regard the UK economy to have come out of the recession only when unemployment started to turn.

Separately, the extraordinary stimulus measures in effect in the euro area to assist the ailing financial system are expected to be rolled back gradually, the Central Bank of Malta said in a report on Wednesday.

“Looking ahead, as the recession bottoms out and tentative signs of a global recovery can be glimpsed, attention is beginning to focus on preparing an appropriate exit strategy,” the central bank said in its quarterly review report. “As far as monetary policy is concerned, at the euro area level the extraordinary measures taken to combat the crisis are expected to be phased out gradually and in a timely manner.”

On Wall Street, stocks fell by slim margins on Wednesday, as worrisome data on inflation and the housing market prompted some traders to reduce positions in equities. The major averages closed in negative territory, although well off their worst levels of the day. Technology stocks led the decliners following an analyst downgrade. The Dow moved down 0.11%, the Nasdaq by 0.48% and the S&P 500 by 0.05%. The Dow futures are currently down by 17 points.

In corporate news, mobile device maker Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, a joint venture between Sony Corp. and Swedish telecom equipment maker LM Ericsson Telephone, is trimming its presence in the U.S. by closing about six sites and shifting its headquarters to Atlanta from North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, leading to about 2,000 job cuts, according to media reports Wednesday.

Europe’s largest airline Air France-KLM posted a wider-than-expected net loss of 147 million euros in the three months ended September.

Dutch property developer Corio NV swung to a net profit in the third quarter compared to a 37.6-million euro loss in the year-ago period.

Moody’s Investors Service cut various ratings on Swiss bank UBS AG, citing challenges in both its investment banking and wealth management businesses.

The European markets fell for the second day on Wednesday, as a report showing an unexpected drop in U.S. housing starts offset a rally among mining stocks.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips closed 0.28% lower, while the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index fell 0.37%. Around Europe, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.07% and France’s CAC 40 index declined 0.02%, while Germany’s DAX index rose 0.16%.

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Posted in Categories: Eurozone, Japan, Releases, Stocks, Switzerland, UK, USA.

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