Major stock indices in Europe declined

European stocks traded slightly downward. Investors analyzed a mixed corporate reporting, as well as waiting for the results of stress tests in the euro zone, which will be published tomorrow.

Focus was also are the results of the July meeting of the Fed. Recall, as expected the Fed left interest rates unchanged, but gave no clear signals about future plans. Investors slightly reduced the likelihood of a rate hike in September, although the Central Bank has improved the economic outlook and said that short-term risks to the economy declined.

According to CME Group, futures on interest rates Fed point to 18% probability of a rate hike in September.

Some support the market have the latest data on Germany and the euro zone. Germany Ministry of Labor said that the number of applications for unemployment benefits in July fell by 7,000 after declining in June 6000. The unemployment rate in July remained at the level of 6.1%, in line with expectations.

Meanwhile, the European Commission reported that the index of economic sentiment rose in July to 104.6 points compared with 104.4 points in June. Experts expect that figure will drop to 103.7 points. Sentiment among consumers fell in July from -7.2 points to -7.9 points, confirming the initial assessment and forecasts. Sentiment in the services sector rose to 11.1 from 10.9 in June (revised from 10.8). Analysts had expected a decline to 10.3. Meanwhile, the index of business optimism in industry rose to -2.4 points to -2.8 points in June. It was expected that the index would fall to -3.4 points. Sentiment Index in the business community has improved to 0.39 points versus 0.22 points in June. Analysts predicted that the rate will fall to 0.17 points. Sentiment index for the retail sector rose to 1.8 from 0.8, and the confidence index for construction reached a level of -16.3 versus -18.2 in June.

The composite index of Europe's largest enterprises Stoxx 600 lost 0.4%.

Shares of the banking sector shows the largest decline among the 19 industry groups in anticipation of the stress tests outcomes "Markets are now digest all previous successes after a decline due to Brexit, - said Philippe Gijsels BNP Paribas -. Corporate profits were generally good, except for a few companies. Investors can exercise some caution on the eve of the meeting of the Bank of Japan and after a strong rally, which may indicate some overbought ".

Shares of Royal Dutch Shell Plc fell 2.5 percent after the company reported that the amount of profit was less than half the average analysts' estimates

Quotes of Lloyds Banking Group Plc fell 3.7 percent amid falling outlook for capital formation in 2016 that increased concerns about rising dividends.

The cost of Dialog Semiconductor Plc sank 7.1 percent as the company cut its forecast for full-year sales

Capitalization of JCDecaux SA decreased by 7 percent after the company's statement that the expected slowdown in the UK will influence the local advertising market

Saipem SpA shares fell 9 percent after lowering profit and sales forecasts for 2016.

At the moment:

FTSE 100 6731.58 -18.85 -0.28%

DAX -5.45 10314.10 -0.05%

CAC -8.35 4438.61 -0.19%