European stocks reduce losses, but remain weak after Fed and awaiting BoE

European stocks have reduced losses since opening for business, amid an attempt to recover Wall Street futures, but maintain weakness in the morning of this Thursday (22), after the Federal Reserve (Fed, the US central bank) ) raise interest rates once again and expecting the Bank of England (BoE) to also raise interest rates in the coming hours.

At around 6:35 am (GMT), the pan-European stock index Stoxx 600 was down 0.70%, to 404.21 points.

The lack of risk appetite in Europe comes after the Fed, as the US central bank is known, raised its rates by 75 basis points for the fifth consecutive time, as expected, and signaled that rates will continue to rise to contain persistent inflation. In the USA.

The Fed also raised its inflation forecasts while cutting growth forecasts.

The Fed’s “hawkish” stance (in favor of withdrawing stimulus) triggered a new round of losses among New York stock exchanges yesterday.

With the Fed behind, investors will now turn to the Bank of England (BoE), which analysts say is expected to raise its key interest rate by another 50 basis points, although some are not ruling out a 75-bp hike. base, as British inflation remains at its highest level in nearly four decades.

The BoE announcement will be at 8:00 am (Brasília time).

Earlier, the Swiss central bank adjusted its basic interest rate from -0.25% to 0.50%, also to fight inflation in the country, which reached its highest level in three decades.

In Japan, on the other hand, the BoJ today left its ultra-accommodative policy unchanged, although domestic inflation is also accelerating.

Also on the radar is Russia’s decision to call up 300,000 reservists to intensify war efforts in Ukraine.

On Twitter, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said the bloc would impose “additional restrictive measures” on Moscow “as soon as possible”.

At 6:51 am (GMT), the London Stock Exchange dropped 0.33%, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange dropped 0.59% and the Paris Stock Exchange dropped 0.77%. Milan, Madrid and Lisbon had losses of 0.02%, 0.36% and 1.14%, respectively.

At the same time, the futures indices of the New York stock exchanges operated without a single direction and close to stability, rehearsing recovery from earlier losses.