The FTSE 100 and European stocks were in the red this Thursday as concerns about more rate hikes in Europe and the US grow stronger amid signs of sticky inflation.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) slipped 0.31% to 7,889 points at the open, while the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris lost 0.74% to 7,180 points. In Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) fell 0.99% to 15,152.
Paddy Power owner Flutter (FLTR.L) shares plunged 5.63% even as the company managed to slightly cut its pre-tax loss last year after the winter World Cup helped it reach a record number of customers in the last few months of 2022.
Taylor Wimpey (TW.L), one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, dropped 0.93% after it flagged that sales and reservations have weakened this year, as the housing market is cooled by higher interest rates.
CRH (CRH.L), the world’s largest building materials company, has revealed it plans to move its stock market listing from London to New York, in a new blow to the City. Shares surged 9.92% after the announcement.
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Across the wider FTSE 250 (^FTMC) index, ITV (ITV.L) fell 2.46% after it warned of a sharp drop in advertising revenue this year as brands cut back on marketing budgets.
Meanwhile, Brent crude (BZ=F) was flat, trading at around $84/barrel, on worries about rising US crude inventories.
A rally in Asian shares sputtered on Thursday, pressured by a pullback in Chinese stocks and higher US yields amid fears the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates to combat sticky inflation.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) was muted and finished at 27,498 points, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong slipped 0.72% to 20,470. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) closed near the flatline, at 3,310 points.
Across the pond, US stocks finished mostly lower Wednesday to start March as key manufacturing data offered mixed results and two Federal Reserve officials suggested a more aggressive rate-hiking campaign in the coming months.
The Dow Jones (^DJI) finished flat at 32,661 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) tumbled 0.47% to finish at 3,951 points and the tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) lost 0.66% to 11,379.
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Two Federal Reserve officials who spoke on Wednesday leaned in the move that aggressive interest rate hikes are the path forward to ease inflation.
They followed Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee, who said on Tuesday it would be a “danger and a mistake for policy makers to rely too heavily on market reactions” and emphasized the importance to “supplement these traditional data with observations on the ground from the real economy.”
US 10-year Treasury yields tallied up a four-month top of 4.018%, while two-year yields reached their highest levels since 2007.
S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the red as trade began in Europe.
Article courtesy of Pedro Goncalves. Published 8:39am on Yahoo Finance on 2nd March 2023. Original article here – FTSE and European stocks lower as Fed hints at higher interest rates (yahoo.com)