European Stocks Close Lower On Growth Concerns, War Jitters

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday amid rising concerns about inflation following a surge in commodity prices, and lingering worries about the impact of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine was on economic growth.

The mood was extremely cautious as talks between Russia and Ukraine have failed to result in any significant progress so far.

Investors also digested the European Central Bank's policy announcement. The ECB stuck to its earlier announcements to wind down monetary stimulus and charted out a policy normalization plan, which economists said was gradual and hawkish.

The ECB left its key interest rates unchanged. The main refinancing rate thus remains at zero, the deposit rate at -0.50% and the marginal lending rate at 0.25%.

The Governing Council, led by ECB President Christine Lagarde, called the Russian invasion of Ukraine "a watershed for Europe" and expressed full support to the people of Ukraine.

The bank said it will ensure smooth liquidity conditions and implement the sanctions decided by the EU and governments.

The ECB policymakers revised the purchase schedule for its asset purchase program, or APP, for the coming months and now sees monthly net purchases to total EUR 40 billion in April, EUR 30 billion in May and EUR 20 billion in June.

In February, the bank had said that the monthly net purchases will be EUR 40 billion in the second quarter and EUR 30 billion in the third quarter.

The pan European Stoxx 600 shed 1.69%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid 1.27%, Germany's DAX ended 2.93% down and France's CAC 40 tumbled 2.83%. Switzerland's SMI declined 0.89%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain ended with sharp to moderate losses.

Poland, Sweden and Turkey edged down marginally, while Finland, Iceland and Norway closed higher.

In the UK market, Evraz plunged nearly 11% after the steelmaker decided to cancel an interim dividend payment, citing the conflict in Ukraine. Persimmon shed 9.2% and Melrose Industries drifted down 8.3%.

CRH, Rio Tinto, B&M European Value Retail, Burberry Group, Diageo, Kingfisher, Croda International, Prudential, Ferguson, Ashtead Group, Polymetal International, Rolls-Royce Holding and HSBC Holdings lost 2.5 to 6%.

Outsourcer Capita surged 8.4% after it reported a swing to pretax profit in 2021.

Glencore rallied nearly 6%, Antofagasta gained 4.7% and Spirax-Sarco Engineering climbed about 4.5%. Fresnillo, Anglo-American Plc, Admiral Group, BAE Systems, Airtel Africa, British American Tobacco, AstraZeneca and Hikma Pharmaceuticals gained 1 to 2.3%.

In Germany, Adidas, BMW, Puma, Volkswagen, Deutsche Post, Daimler, Merck and Infineon Technologies shed 4 to 6%.

Siemens Healthineers, Continental, E.ON, Siemens, SAP, Linde, Deutsche Wohnen, Vonovia, BASF and MTU Aero Engines lost 2.5 to 3.8%.

German luxury fashion brand Hugo Boss AG shed more than 7%. The company reported that its fourth-quarter net income attributable to shareholders surged to 70 million euros from last year's 20 million euros.

In the French market, Credit Agricole fell more than 7%. Valeo, Societe Generale, Faurecia, Kering, LO'real, Essilor, Veolia, Schneider Electric, BNP Paribas, Hermes International, Airbus Group, Renault, Safran and Vinci declined 3 to 6%.