Stock markets in Europe closed down this Friday (16) after a series of speeches by European Central Bank (ECB) leaders, with the consumer price index (CPI, its acronym in English) higher than forecast by the market and in view of expectations for higher interest rates next year by European Central Banks. Still, data from the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI, its acronym in English) from the euro zone and the United Kingdom, as well as British retail sales, also guided the business in the session.
In London, the FTSE 100 closed down 1.27%, at 7,332.12 points, while the CAC 40, in Paris, fell 1.08%, at 6,452.63 points, and the FTSE MIB, in Milan, dropped 0.16%, to 23,688.16 points. In Madrid, the Ibex 35 index fell 1.24%, to 8,117.18 points. The DAX index, in Frankfurt, followed the movement and closed down 0.67%, at 13,893.07 points. Finally, on the Lisbon Stock Exchange, the PSI 20 dropped 0.74% to 5,689.36 points. Quotes are preliminary.
On Friday, ECB chief Olli Rehn told the Reuters that high inflation should make the institution maintain the pace of increases of 50 basis points (bp) in February and March. The speech is in line with the vision of the leader Robert Holzmann, who highlighted to the same newspaper that the European Central Bank is committed to reducing inflation.
Member Mario Centeno warned, also for the Reuters, that an excessive grip would be an overreaction. This Friday, the Central Bank of Germany (Bundesbank) published a report highlighting that it expects the country’s economy to grow 1.8% this year and contract in 2023.
Earlier, Eurostat reported that the euro zone’s CPI rose 10.1% in November year-on-year, slightly above the market forecast, slowing down after rising 10.6% in October. On the other hand, the CPI in the monthly comparison was down 0.1%, in line with expectations.
The same agency published that the trade deficit in the euro zone was 26.5 billion euros in October, with high exports and imports in the annual comparison.
The day was also marked by the publication of several PMIs, including those for services and industry in the euro zone, Germany and the United Kingdom. All but the UK services PMI indicated contraction in activity as they were below 50.
According to Oxford Economics, with the PMIs, there is still a possibility of a smaller retraction in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the euro zone in 2022.
Source: CNN Brasil
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