European stocks down, Spanish record strong performance ‎supported by Inditex shares

Spanish stocks rose today, Wednesday, after Inditex, owner of Zara, reported strong quarterly results, while other European stock markets fell as luxury goods and mining companies incurred losses after weak trade data from China.

According to “Reuters”, the European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.2 percent, while the Spanish index rose 0.6 percent by 0712 GMT.

Inditex shares rose nearly 4 percent after it said sales of its spring-summer group had jumped 16 percent over the past month.

The European retail stock index jumped 2.2 percent, leading gains in the subsectors, while the mining sector fell 0.7 percent.

Chinese exports contracted at a faster-than-expected pace in May, while imports continued to decline, with a bleak outlook for global demand, especially from developed markets.

Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), the luxury goods giant with the most exposure to China and the largest by market value in Europe, fell 0.5 percent.

Concerns about the consequences of further interest rate hikes from major central banks, including the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve (the US Central Bank), continued next week, in light of slowing global economic growth.