06.01.2022 19:07:31
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European Stocks Close Notably Lower
(RTTNews) - European stocks closed notably lower on Thursday with investors reacting to the hawkish tone in the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.
The minutes of the Fed's December meeting suggested the central bank will more aggressive in tightening monetary policy. In addition to raising rates more quickly than previously anticipated, the minutes also indicated the Fed plans to begin reducing its balance sheet shortly after the first rate hike.
Worries about the surge in coronavirus cases across the world weighed as well on sentiment.
Markets also digested the latest batch of economic data from the euro area. Investors were also cautious ahead of Friday's closely watched U.S. monthly jobs report.
The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 1.25%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.88%. Germany's DAX ended 1.35% down and France's CAC tumbled 1.72%. Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.88%.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia and Sweden ended with sharp to moderate losses.
Austria and Greece posted modest losses and Spain ended flat. Czech Republic, Finland, Poland and Turkey closed higher.
In the UK market, Aveva Group drifted down 5.8%. Next declined more than 3% despite raising its profit forecast for the fifth time.
Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Relx, Flutter Entertainment, Experian, Fresnillo, Halma, Polymetal International, ICP, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Bunzl, Antofagasta, Croda International and Hikma Pharmaceuticals shed 3 to 5%.
Standard Chartered rallied 3.75%. Natwest Group, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC Holdings gained 2.1 to 2.6%. Barclays and British Land also ended notably higher.
In the German market, Puma, Zalando, Symrise, Sartorius, Adidas, Infineon Technologies, Merck, Siemens, HelloFresh, SAP, Linde, Brenntag and Deutsche Post lost 2 to 4.6%.
In Paris, Essilor, Hermes International, CapGemini, Teleperformance, LVMH, Pernod Ricard, Dassault Systemes, L'Oreal and Kering declined 3 to 5%. Schneider Electric, Valeo, Legrand, Air Liquide, STMicroElectronics, Air France-KLM, Airbus, Vivendi and Engie also ended weak.
Carrefour surged up more than 6%. Societe Generale gained nearly 2%. The lender's car leasing division ALD has agreed to buy rival LeasePlan for 4.9 billion euros ($5.5 billion).
Technip, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Renault gained 1 to 1.8%.
In economic releases, Eurozone producer prices rose at a faster pace in November, mainly driven by high energy prices, preliminary figures from Eurostat showed.
The producer price index on the domestic market climbed 23.7% year-on-year following a 21.9% increase in October. Economists had forecast a 22.9% rise.
Germany's inflation accelerated further in December to remain above 5%, preliminary figures from Destatis showed. The flash consumer price index rose 5.3% year-on-year following a 5.2% increase in November. Economists had expected inflation to slow to 5.1%.
Germany's factory orders rebounded in November largely driven by foreign demand, data from Destatis showed.
New orders grew 3.7% month-on-month in November, reversing a strong decline of 5.8% in October. The pace of growth also exceeded the economists' forecast of 2.1%.
Germany's construction sector contracted at a slower pace in December, survey results from IHS Markit showed. The construction Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 48.2 in December from 47.9 in the previous month. A score below 50.0 indicates contraction in the sector.
The UK service sector expanded at the slowest pace in ten months in December as the Omicron variant led to a steep fall in spending on face-to-face consumer services, final survey results from IHS Markit showed on Thursday.
The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 53.6 in December from 58.5 in November. However, the score was above the flash 53.2.
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