2023-06-15 16:43:45
European stocks closed lower on Thursday, following the European Central Bank raised borrowing costs as expected, and signaled further tightening of monetary policy with the aim of curbing inflation.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.1% at the close, following falling 0.8% earlier in the session.
The European Central Bank raised the deposit rate by 25 basis points to 3.5 percent, its highest level in 22 years.
This is the eighth consecutive increase in the ECB interest rate.
Inflation in the eurozone was 6.1 percent, more than three times the ECB’s target of 2 percent.
“This was entirely expected given that (ECB President Christine Lagarde) had already said two weeks ago that interest rates should be raised further to bring CPI back to target,” said Stuart Cole of Equity Capital.
The banking sector index fell 0.8 percent, while the technology sector index fell 0.6 percent. Both are quickly affected by interest rate movements.
Healthcare stocks rose 0.4 percent.
H&M shares jumped 3.7 percent following the Swedish fashion group said it had a good start to the month of June.
Market closures.
- The Stoxx 600 ended the session down 0.1 percent
- The German DAX index ended the session down by 0.13 percent
- Britain’s FTSE closed up 0.34 percent
- The French CAC closed down by 0.51 percent
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