Euro markets widen their losses after German macros

Euro markets extended losses after data showed a record jump in German producer prices and as investors took a wait-and-see approach ahead of a crucial central banker’s meeting next week that could provide new clues on the path of US monetary policy and Europe.

The annual financial conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming will gather global investment interest next week. Speeches by officials at the conference will be under the microscope of investors for new data on the path of interest rates as central banks try to rein in the highest inflation in four decades. The most interest is expected to gather the speech of the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell on Friday.

On the board, the pan-European Stoxx 600 lost 0.5% to 438.51 points.

Germany’s DAX fell 0.9 percent to 13,568.98 after data showed producer prices hit a record high in July.

In particular, producer prices rose 37.2% year-on-year in July, following June’s rise of 32.7%, as announced by the German statistics office. From June, prices rose 5.3% in July, also setting a record.

France’s CAC 40 fell 0.7% to 6,509.26 points, while Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.2% to 7,526.95 points.

UK data released today showed consumer confidence fell in August to the lowest level since 1974 as a rally in inflation weighed more heavily on households.

More encouraging were the figures for retail sales which came in better than estimates. The volume of retail sales rose 0.3% in July from the previous month, following a downwardly revised 0.2% fall in June, Britain’s statistics office said. The data defied analysts’ estimates of a further 0.2% drop in sales in a Reuters poll.

Regionally, Italy’s FTSE MIB lost 1.4%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 fell 1.05%.