Major European stock markets closed lower on Thursday, with investors worried about slowing growth, impending rising interest rates and US inflation data.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.74% lower at 424.40 points, while earlier it was hit harder. The key resource sector declined by 3%, with almost all sectors and major stock markets in negative territory. The other pan-European Eurostoxx 50 index, with the “heavyweights” of the eurozone, lost 0.94%, to 3,613.43 points.
The German DAX lost 0.64% to 13,739.64 points, the French CAC 40 fell 1.01% to 6,206.26 points, while the British FTSE 100 fell 1.56% to 7,233.34 points.
The Italian FTSE MIB fell 0.67% to 23,566.23 points, while the Spanish IBEX 35 fell 1.35% to 8,200.40 points.
The data released yesterday in the US left no room for optimism about the possibility of a slight – at least – de-escalation of prices that could lead the Federal Reserve to less aggressive increases in interest rates.
More specifically, annual inflation climbed to 8.3% in April, slowing from 8.5% in March, but exceeding analysts’ average estimates of 8.1%.
Persistent inflationary pressures in the midst of the Ukraine war have led the US central bank to launch an aggressive campaign to tighten its policy. The bank has already increased its interest rates by 75 basis points, while it plans to make two more increases by 50 basis points in the summer.
Investors are worried that the rally in inflation could force the Fed to even higher increases, by 75 basis points. in the coming months, with unpredictable consequences for economic growth.
At the macro level, the UK economy shrank 0.1% in March but grew 0.8% in the first quarter of 2022 overall, according to official data.
“Monetary policy in the current environment is facing enormous challenges in the context of rising commodity prices and the burden is now shifting to fiscal policy easing to avoid the risk of recession,” said Bob Parker, a member of the Quilvest Wealth Investment Committee. Management.
In Europe, overnight results were announced by Veolia, Bouygues, Aegon, Allianz, Commerzbank, RWE, Siemens and Zurich Insurance.
BMW’s share sank more than 8% as it began trading without the dividend, while Siemens’s share lost 2.5%. The German giant’s net profit fell to about 1.21 billion euros in the first quarter of the year (second quarter of the year), as it recorded losses of 600 million euros due to its exit from Russia.
At the bottom of the Stoxx 600, German copper producer Aurubis lost about 9%, while shares of Spanish Telefonica gained more than 2.6%, following the announcement of better-than-expected results.
Source: Capital

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