For the third consecutive session in the “red” European stock markets, with the attention of investors remaining focused on the escalation of tension on the eastern front of Ukraine, amid growing concerns about the risk of hostilities escalating into an open conflict Russia.
The separatist authorities of the Donetsk “democracy” announced on Friday afternoon that a car had exploded near a government building in the city of the same name.
According to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, this happened a few tens of meters away from the Donetsk government building. Authorities in the area have confirmed reports of an explosion in central Donetsk.
U.S. and NATO officials said today that figures from the field show that Russia is increasing its units near the Ukrainian border despite recent assurances from the Kremlin that it has begun withdrawing troops.
In a speech to the UN Security Council on Thursday, US Secretary of State Blinken again called on Russia to “abandon the path of war”. “Our information clearly shows that ‘Russian forces on the Ukrainian border, including ground forces and aircraft, are preparing to launch an attack on Ukraine in the coming days,'” Blinken said.
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to meet with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken next week for new talks on Ukraine, keeping alive hopes for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
In this climate, the pan-European index Stoxx 600 fell 0.81% to 460.81 points, with the travel and leisure sector losing 1.6%, while mining shares resisted the downward trend and added 0.8%.
In the individual dashboard, the German DAX lost 1.47% to 15,042.51 points, the French CAC 40 fell 0.25% to 6,929.63 points, while the British FTSE 100 recorded losses of 0.32% at 7,513.62 points, while in the week it recorded its biggest drop in the last three months.
In the periphery, the Italian FTSE MIB lost 0.61% to 26,506.79, while the Spanish IBEX 35 fell 0.94% to 8,590 points.
In the individual shares, the Finnish pharmaceutical company Orion rallied more than 24%, after Bayer announced on Thursday positive results from clinical trials of a drug for prostate cancer developed by the two companies.
At the bottom of the European blue chip index, the Swedish heating technology company Nibe Industrier fell by 6.8% after the fourth quarter results report.
In addition, Renault lost 0.04% even though the French carmaker announced that it had returned to profits in 2021 and plans to repay the government aid it received to deal with the pandemic earlier than planned.
The EDF energy group plunged 2.35% after announcing that it would issue shares to raise about 2.5 billion euros.
Source: Capital
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