European equity markets are mostly down on Tuesday after a long weekend. Investors are evaluating issuers’ reports and statistical data and are waiting this week for decisions on interest rates in the eurozone and the U.S.
The Stoxx Europe 600 composite index of the region’s largest companies lost 0.3 percent to 465.5 points as of 11:53 a.m.
The British FTSE 100 was little changed during the session. France’s CAC 40 is down 0.4%, Spain’s IBEX 35 is down 0.7%, Germany’s DAX is down 0.3%. Italy’s FTSE MIB is up 0.2%.
This week traders’ attention is focused on the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting to be held on May 2-3. Experts generally expect the U.S. central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) at the upcoming meeting, MarketWatch noted. Investors will be waiting for signals from the Federal Reserve as to whether it is willing to pause in its policy tightening cycle.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is also meeting this week and its results will be summarized on Thursday. The consensus analyst forecast cited by Trading Economics expects the ECB’s lending and deposit rates to rise by 25 bps.
The annual growth rate of consumer prices in the euro area in April was 7%, according to preliminary data from the EU statistics office. The index coincided with the experts’ forecasts.
Meanwhile, retail sales in Germany decreased by 2.4% in March against the previous month, while analysts on average expected the index to increase by 0.4%.
The shares of French TotalEnergies went down in price by 1.7%. The firm entered into an agreement to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Adnoc Gas, a unit of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The deal is expected to be worth $1-1.2 billion at current prices.
Rival BP Plc cut its key profit figure by 20.5% in the first quarter. The British oil and gas giant’s stock quotes are down 5.1%, although the above figure beat market forecasts.
Other representatives of the commodity sector are also the leaders of the decline in the UK. Rio Tinto capitalization is down 2.2%, Anglo American – 1.6%, BHP Group – 1.5%.
In turn, one of the growth leaders is HSBC Holdings Plc. The credit institution more than tripled its net profit in the first quarter and added 5.6% in market value.
Shares of other European banks also rose in price, including BNP Paribas – by 0.2%, Societe Generale – by 0.9%, Credit Agricole – by 0.4%, UniCredit – by 1.5%, Intesa Sanpaolo – by 0.5%.
The capitalization of Sweden’s Electrolux AB rises 2.3% after news about the possibility of its purchase by China’s Midea Group.
