Stock markets in Europe have shown restrained breathing throughout the trading session this Friday (27th) and closed timidly higher. Data out of the US pointed to a continued slowdown in domestic inflation, but also raised worries about recession risks, making it difficult to set a clear direction for equity markets.
In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.05% to 7,765.15, while the DAX in Frankfurt followed suit to close up 0.11% to 15,150.03. The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.02% to 7,097.21 and the FTSE MIB in Milan added 0.83% to 26,435.75. In Madrid, the Ibex 35 rose 0.26% to 9,059.40. Finally, on the Lisbon Stock Exchange, the PSI 20 fell 0.42% to 5,936.73 points. Quotes are preliminary.
The consumer spending and personal income indicators released this morning pointed to a deterioration in US activity in December, according to Oxford Economics. The consumer price index (PCE), in turn, slowed to an annual high of 5.0% last month.
The data caused volatility in Wall Street markets and also reverberated on the other side of the Atlantic, where business has already shown subdued momentum, awaiting monetary policy decisions from the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB) next week. . . .
As far as CMC Markets is concerned, the UK-based business found itself in a dilemma after raising interest rates by 50 basis points (bp) in December. However, bank committee members are likely to push for another half a percentage point increase as the bank doesn’t want to give the impression that it is easing up on its fight against inflation.
Notable among the falls on the Paris Stock Exchange is Airbus, which shed about 3.5% after revealing plans to hire more than 13,000 people to overcome delays and meet rising demand.
Other notable declines include commodity-related stocks, with Antofagasta down over 2% and Rio Tinto over 1.5%, all on the London Stock Exchange. In Portugal, GalpEnergia fell more than 0.2%.
However, on the other hand, also in the commodity sector, Shell shares rose more than 1% in London.
On the continent side, the highlight of the session was Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP), which beat market expectations.
Source: Istoe Dinheiro
I work as an author at the World Herald News, a news website that also covers the economy. I have been writing about economic topics for over six years and have written extensively on topics such as unemployment, housing prices, and the stock market. My goal is to provide readers with expert insight into these important issues so they can make informed decisions.
