Sixth day of losses in European stock markets

European stock markets closed lower on Tuesday for a sixth straight session in the biggest downturn since the first days of the pandemic in Europe in March 2020, as concerns about the resilience of the world’s largest economies remain high. inflation that forces central banks to successively and aggressively raise their interest rates.

Investors are waiting for the decisions of the US Federal Reserve tomorrow in the wake of the data announced last week and showed jump in annual inflation to 8.6% in May. The US Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by another 50 basis points on Wednesday as it continues its effort to curb prices.

But the European Central Bank is also preparing for its first rate hike in more than ten years next month as it launches its policy tightening to tackle the jump in inflation. The ECB announced that The first rate hike in July will be by 25 basis pointsleaving open the possibility that the next increase in interest rates, in September, will be higher, by 50 bp.

On the board, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index lost 1.3% and closed at 407.32 points, slipping to the lowest level since February 2021.

The German DAX fell 0.9% to 13,304.39 points, while the French CAC 40 closed down 1.2% at 5,949.84 points.

The British FTSE 100 lost ground for the sixth consecutive session and closed with small losses of 0.25% at 7,187.46 points as investors prepare for the decisions of the Bank of England this week. The central bank is expected to raise its interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25% on Thursday.

In the region, the Italian FTSE MIB lost 0.3%, while the Spanish IBEX 35 fell 1.4%.