Stock indices of the largest countries of Western Europe are falling during the first trading session of autumn.
The composite index of the largest companies in the region Stoxx Europe 600 by 11:10 Moscow time decreased by 1% and amounted to 410.88 points.
The German DAX index falls by 1%, the French САС 40 – by 1.2%, the British FTSE 100 – by 0.9%. The Italian FTSE MIB and the Spanish IBEX 35 are down 0.9% and 0.7% respectively.
Traders in the region are considering the prospect of strong ECB rate hikes at the last two regulator meetings this year. On Wednesday, after the release of data on August inflation in the euro area, which broke a historical record, analysts published forecasts for the European Central Bank to raise rates by 75 bp at the September meeting, and by 50 bp at the October meeting.
At a meeting in July, the ECB raised rates for the first time in 11 years, by 50 bp at once. The base interest rate on loans was raised to 0.5%, the rate on deposits – to zero, the rate on margin loans – to 0.75%.
Retail sales in Germany rose unexpectedly by 1.9% in July compared to the previous month, data from the country’s Federal Statistical Agency (Destatis) showed. The rate of increase in the indicator became the highest since June 2021. Analysts polled by Trading Economics did not expect the index to change.
France’s Pernod Ricard SA, one of the world’s largest spirits producers, is down 1% despite the fact that the company increased its revenue by 21% in fiscal 2022 and raised its dividend by 32%, to 4.12 euros per share.
Shares of mining Rio Tinto PLC fell 2.6% at auction in London. The company has agreed to buy out a 49% stake in Canadian Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. for $3.3 billion.
Papers of the British Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, which produces hundreds of household chemicals and medicines, lose 4.7% in price. The company’s CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, will step down on September 30. The interim acting CEO will be Nicandro Durante, Senior Independent Director of the Supervisory Board.
The market capitalization of the Swedish investment company EQT AB falls by 3.3%. The company has set the size of the EQT Infrastructure VI fund, which aims to invest in infrastructure projects, in the amount of 20 billion euros.
The drop leaders among the components of the Stoxx Europe 600 are shares of Germany’s real estate alstria office REIT-AG, which shed 14.2%.
