European stocks tumbled on Monday as investors remained cautious ahead of corporate earnings releases this week, with jitters over rising interest rates and rising geopolitical tensions also weighing on sentiment.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was briefly in positive territory, but closed down 0.40%, at 390.12 points, and extended losses for the fourth consecutive session.
Geopolitical concerns mounted on Monday after Russia launched its most widespread air strikes since the start of the Ukraine war, in what President Vladimir Putin called revenge for the Crimean bridge explosion.
The STOXX 600 has dropped more than 3% over the past four sessions on concerns that aggressive monetary policy tightening by central banks will slow economic growth. Data released on Friday showed strong US job growth and dashed hopes of a Federal Reserve turnaround soon.
“We have high inflation, central banks acting aggressively and a growing conflict in Ukraine, which shows no signs of stabilizing. There’s not really any kind of positivity at the moment,” said Michael Baker, head of online services at Oval Money. Tech stocks dropped 1.9%, at the bottom of the STOXX 600 sectors, followed by real estate.
However, they were offset to some extent by gains in chemical and retail papers. In LONDON, the Financial Times index fell 0.45% to 6,959.31 points.
In FRANKFURT, the DAX index was stable at 12,272.94 points.
In PARIS, the CAC-40 index lost 0.45% to 5,840.55 points.
In MILAN, the Ftse/Mib index appreciated by 0.05%, at 20,912.96 points.
In MADRID, the Ibex-35 index registered a drop of 0.31%, at 7,413.50 points.
In LISBON, the PSI20 index depreciated by 0.78%, to 5,313.11 points.
Source: CNN Brasil
Joe Jameson, a technology journalist with over 2 years of experience, writes for top online news websites. Specializing in the field of technology, Joe provides insights into the latest advancements in the industry. Currently, he contributes to covering the world stock market.
