At european stocks fell on Thursday, with media papers weighed down by declines in British education group Pearson, while data suggesting tight working conditions in the U.S fueled fears that the Federal Reserve keep interest rates higher for longer.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 0.20% at 439.33 points, after rising more than 3% in the first three sessions of 2023.
It was also the first time this week that European equities fell in line with their Wall Street after data showed the number of Americans filing new jobless claims fell to a three-month low last week, underlining the resilience of the US job market.
Another report showed that US private sector payrolls rose by 235,000 jobs last month, after rising 182,000 in November, while economists had expected an increase of 150,000 jobs in the private sector. Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s December meeting showed that officials were concerned about a “misperception” in financial markets that their commitment to fighting the inflation would be decreasing, although they agreed that the central bank should reduce the pace of its monetary policy tightening.
European media shares lost 1.5%, with Pearson down 5.9% after the Bank Of American Research downgraded its stock from “neutral” to “underperforming”.
Retail stocks rose 2.1%, with a 6.9% jump in British clothing retailer Next, which led gains after posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales and raising its 2022 profit forecast. 23.
In London, the Financial Times index advanced 0.76%, to 7,642.69 points.
In Frankfurt, the DAX index fell 0.34% to 14,441.13 points.
In Paris, the CAC-40 index lost 0.20% to 6,762.92 points.
In Milan, the Ftse/Mib index lost 0.16% to 24,821.86 points.
In Madrid, the Ibex-35 index registered an increase of 0.56%, to 8,607.60 points.
In Lisbon, the PSI20 index appreciated by 0.16%, to 5,876.05 points.
Source: Moneytimes
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