BU S INE S SWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

LONDON/MILAN: European shares were littlechanged yesterday, with German energy com-panies RWE and E.ON down after a report saidthey needed to set aside more money to shutdown nuclear power plants. Investors werereluctant to make big bets before the FederalReserve decides on Thursday whether to raiseUS interest rates for the first time since 2006.

Shares in RWE and E.ON both fell more than7 percent after Spiegel Online said they wereshort as much as 30 billion euros ($34 billion)of the money they need to set aside to build asafe disposal site for nuclear waste, as part ofGermany’s exit from nuclear power. E.ON,

however, said that nuclear provisions wereadequate.

“Uncertainty about the Fed’s likely decisioncontinues. If there is no rate hike on Thursday,it could also give a signal that the Fed hassome concerns about the health of the econo-my,” said Christ ian Stocker, strategist atUniCredit in Munich.

The mood among investors in Germany,Europe’s biggest economy, s lumped inSeptember to its lowest level in 10 months, hitby fears about slower exports to emergingmarkets, a sur vey by the ZEW think tankshowed yesterday.

The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources indexfell more than 1 percent, the top sectoral declin-er in Europe. “Chinese demand for industrialmetals continues to be weak and there aresome overcapacities in the mining sector. This isa combination which is negative for the sector,”Stocker said. The auto sector instead rose 1 per-cent after figures showed European car registra-tions surged 11.5 percent last month as aregional market recovery gathered pace. Thepan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up0.05 percent at 1,397.80 points. The index end-ed 0.5 percent lower in the previous session.

Although the benchmark index is up more

than 5 percent from a low it hit late lastmonth, it is down about 14 percent fromits peak two months ago, mainly on con-cerns about the pace of economicgrowth in China and the prospects of aUS rate hike.

FTSE slips Britain’s top equity index slipped yes-

terday, led lower by Glencore which hitanother all-time low as concerns overcommodity prices continued to pile pres-sure on the stock. Mining and commodi-ties trader Glencore fel l 4.7 percent,touching its record low, after news thatthree leading global thermal coal pricebenchmarks have fallen below levels lastseen during the global financial crisis of2008-2009.

Coal prices have been knocked by asharp slowdown in demand, especially inAsia, and by stubbornly high mining out-put. Other miners also fell, with the sectordown 1.6 percent as copper hit a one-week low. However traders said thatGlencore’s exposure to coal would ensureits shares, which have fallen to a series ofrecord lows since July, bore the brunt ofthe day’s selling.

“The frequency with which Glencorehas been the top FTSE faller in recentweeks is worrying to investors. The under-lying commodity market is offering pre-cious l ittle refuge for them,” AlastairMcCaig, market analyst at IG, said. “The

fact they straddle so many different pro-duction spheres within commodities hasmeant they’re getting hit most days, andthe sentiment towards them is weak.”

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index declinedby 0.1 percent to 6,080.71 points by 1121GMT. The FTSE hit a record high of7,122.74 points in April but has since beenhit by signs of an economic slowdown inChina and the prospect of a Fed rate rise,with commodity stocks leading the falls.

Traders said volumes were likely toremain light before a U.S. Federal Reservemeeting on Sept. 17 at which it will decideon whether or not to raise interest rates forthe first time since 2006.

“Conditions in China and the ‘emerg-ing world’ also call for great caution onthe part of the Fed, with fears that finan-cial markets could react poorly if ratesare increased prematurely or without asound rationale,” strategists at Amundisaid in a note.

A US rate hike could put pressure onthe Bank of England to follow suit. Higherrates often hurt stock markets by boostingthe appeal of bonds and cash, wherereturns have been hit by the record lowinterest rates set by major world centralbanks since the 2008 global financial crisis.

However, tightening by the Bank ofEngland was seen as less likely after Britishannual inflation fell back to zero in August,ensuring price growth remained far slowerthan the central bank’s target. — Reuters

European shares flat, German energy shares slump