LONDON — European stock markets were mixed Thursday morning, continuing a negative run after closing last week at a record high.index opened slightly lower before nudging just above the flatline, with sectors spread between losses and gains. Utilities stocks rose 1.05% as chemicals fell 0.5%.suggested a slowdown in the world's biggest economy — and revived debate about whether the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates by 50 rather than 25 basis points this month.
That has put even more focus on the remaining U.S. jobs releases out this week, particularly initial jobless claims on Thursday and nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate on Friday."There is a slowdown taking place, there's no question about it, but I think we're very far from a recession," George Lagarias, chief economist at Forvis Mazars, told CNBC's "
Some moderation in the jobs market has long been widely expected, Lagarias added, indicating that "the Fed is not going to move very aggressively."Goldman Sachs just refreshed its conviction lists of global stocks — giving one 64% upsidesuffering the steepest decline after wages recorded softer growth in August, potentially offering the Bank of Japan more room for a rate hike.