The European stock exchanges were closed with losses on Thursday. Concerns about the economic damage caused by the second wave of virus outbreak have re-emerged. Investors continued to take it easy after the march earlier this week in the euphoria about coronavaccins. On the Damrak, the Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Retail Property Fund was under pressure after the top man left.
The AEX index on Stock Exchange Square 5 ended 0.8 percent down at 596.01 points. The Midcap lost 0.7 percent to 870.60 points. The stock exchanges in Paris, London and Frankfurt dropped to 0.9 percent.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, also known as the great Westfield Mall of the Netherlands in Leidschendam, closed the row in the AEX with a min of 4 percent. The current top man Christophe Cuvillier will be succeeded by Jean-Marie Tritant on 1 January. Earlier reports came out that the position of the top of the company had become unsustainable due to the failure of a stock issue. President Colin Dyer has already resigned in the aftermath of the matter.
Ahold Delhaize was one of the few winners in the AEX, with a profit of almost 1 percent. The supermarket group, together with investor Centerbridge Partners, buys the FreshDirect online supermarket from New York. According to KBC Securities analysts, the group is accelerating its activities in the rapidly growing online market in the United States.
Air France-KLM airline combination (minus 4.6 percent) was among the larger losers in the medium-sized funds. According to the head of Air France, Anne Rigail, by May the company is counting on additional support from the shareholders, including the Dutch and French States. In addition, Rigail does not expect to recover from business travel until the second quarter.
Elsewhere in Europe, business News also provided clear exchange rate movements. In Oslo, Norwegian Air lost almost 16 percent. The Norwegian airline applied for bankruptcy protection in Ireland following the Norwegian government’s refusal to grant further state aid. Thyssenkrupp dropped over 3 percent in Frankfurt. The German industry and Steel Group is scrapping a total of 11,000 jobs due to the coronacrisis and suffered a billion-dollar loss in the last financial year.
The euro was worth $ 1,1840, compared to $ 1,1866 a day earlier. A barrel of American oil became 0.7 percent cheaper at $ 41.53. Brent oil dropped 0.6% to $ 44.06 per barrel.