European markets fall on poor German industrial production

European stock markets opened lower in reaction to weaker than expected industrial figures in Germany. The 4% drop for industrial production in July was far worse that the consensus forecast of a drop of 4%. It is clear now that the impact of Russian sanctions is having a deeper and more meaningful impact than many had expected. Company announcements yesterday highlighted severely weaker orders in construction and machinery. However stock market losses are limited because what initially appears as bad news could be good news in so far as it heaps additional pressure on ECB president Mario Draghi to finally announce a programme of quantitative easing which would be undoubtedly good for stock markets.