European Shares Edge Down Ahead of ECB Minutes - Update

Wall Street futures point to a lower open

-- Technology shares gain in Asia

-- Europe markets fall ahead of ECB minutes

The week's equities rebound slowed Thursday, as global benchmarks were mixed after minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting showed disagreement over the timeline for future interest-rate increases in the U.S.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.2% Thursday morning led lower by the banking sector, while futures signaled the S&P 500 will open 0.1% lower.

Investors are watching for the European Central Bank's minutes of its latest meeting, due later in the day.

In U.S. premarket trading, Cisco Systems Inc. fell 3.2%. The technology company was one of the worst performers after reporting that its revenue fell.

The tail end of earnings season will continue in the U.S. as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reports results before the open. U.S. markets were supported by a strong showing from retail stocks Wednesday, with Target Corp. beating analyst expectations.

In Asia, technology-heavy markets in Taiwan and South Korea advanced. Samsung Electronics climbed 1.8% and some Taiwanese tech stocks made similar advances.

The region's biggest tech company, Tencent, rose 1.9% following stronger-than-expected second-quarter results. Even so, sliding financial and property stocks kept Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng pressured, down 0.2%.

Along with geopolitical concerns, the prospect of monetary tightening in developed markets has been a factor in cooling foreign buying of Asian stocks, said Khoon Goh, ANZ's head of Asia research, noting that foreigners have pulled a net $2.8 billion from the region's equity markets, excluding China, this month.

The dollar softened overnight as the market digested the Fed minutes, a decline that continued during Asian trading. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies, on Thursday was up 0.08% to 86.36.

The dollar's earlier decline pressured stocks in Japan, with the Nikkei down 0.1%.

Concerns about a stronger yen's impact on Japan's exporters--a major part of the country's economy--send exporters' stocks and often the broader market lower when the currency records even moderate gains. But data out Thursday showed Japan's July exports were up 13% from a year earlier, the eighth straight monthly increase.

Kenan Machado contributed to this article.

Write to Ese Erheriene at ese.erheriene@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2017 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT)