European shares fell on Friday, heading for their worst week in two months, following a sharp fall in Wall Street as investors feared a bigger interest rate hike would be needed to curb high inflation.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.6 percent by 0709 GMT, with the travel, leisure and technology sectors being the biggest losers. Oil and gas stocks were the only gainers with crude prices above $110 a barrel.
US stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday as investor sentiment faltered in the face of concerns that this week’s interest rate hike would not be enough to stem spiraling inflation.
The earnings also negatively affected sentiment in Europe.
Adidas stock fell 4 percent as the company cut its forecast for 2022 sales due to the continued anti-pandemic closures in China to harm the German sportswear company.
ING Group, the largest Dutch bank, fell 2.2 percent as it reported worse-than-expected quarterly net income, including an increase in provisions for bad loans due to exposures in Russia and Ukraine.
Denmark’s Ambo Medical Devices fell 13.9 percent following announcing pessimistic full-year profit forecasts due to supply chain problems and a shortage of hospital staff.
Japanese stocks
The Japanese Nikkei index changed course and closed higher today, Friday, as investors snapped shares in the hopes of companies achieving solid profits, despite selling in the broader Asian markets amid concerns regarding China strengthening its tough policy in the face of the Corona virus.
The Nikkei closed up 0.69 percent at 27,003.56 points, following moving in the negative range for most of the session. The broader Topix index rose 0.93 percent to 1915.91 points.
“The outlook for Japanese companies released ahead of the Golden Week holiday was better than expected and investors considered this a positive factor,” said John Morita, general manager of research at Chepagen Asset Management.
Japanese markets opened lower following a three-day holiday, tracking US stocks, which closed sharply lower last night amid broad selling as sentiment waned in the face of concerns that US interest rate hikes the previous day would not be enough to curb rising inflation.
Investors have bought stocks that are resilient amid inflation, such as those linked to commodities and banks. Shares of oil exploration companies jumped 4.56 percent with the rise in crude prices, while shares of banks rose 2.52 percent amid rising US Treasury yields.
Toyota Motor shares rose 2.15 percent, providing the biggest boost to the Topix index. Trading company Mitsui & Co. jumped 6.08 percent, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group climbed 3.08 percent.
Tokyo Electric Power Holdings jumped 16.23 percent, the biggest gainer on the Nikkei index, following Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in London that Japan would use nuclear reactors to reduce dependence on Russian energy.
Asian stocks
Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region were largely lower following the overnight decline on Wall Street sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average on its worst day since 2020.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led losses regionally, dropping 3.7% in the last hour of trading. In China, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.16% to end the trading day at 3,001.56 while the Shenzhen component declined 2.141% to 10,809.88 points.
Tencent shares fell 4.31% while Alibaba shares fell 6.83%. The broader risk sentiment also extended to electric vehicle shares, with Shiping down 9.59% while NEO was down 11.47%.
(agencies)
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