European Stocks As Growth Worries Trigger Sell-off

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell sharply on Thursday as concerns about interest rates and fears of a recession weighed on the markets.

The Bank of England's decision to intervene in the bond market buoyed up stocks on Wednesday, but the buying interest waned today, and the mood once again turned bearish. Markets were also upset by reports that that Sweden's coast guard discovered a fourth gas leak on the damaged Nord Stream pipelines, heightening energy security concerns.

Hawkish comments from several Fed officials, a strong dollar and higher bond yields hurt. The British pound resumed its slide, snapping a two-day gain, as prime minister Liz Truss doubled down on her tax cutting and borrowing plans.

Investors also reacted to survey results from the European Commission that showed Eurozone economic confidence weakened to the lowest level in nearly two years in September as all surveyed business sectors reported marked declines, signaling a recession in the currency bloc.

The economic confidence index declined more-than-expected to 93.7 in September from 97.3 in the previous month. The index hit the lowest since November 2020. The expected score was 95.0.

At -28.8, the consumer confidence index reached an all-time low, as estimated, from -25.0 a month ago.

The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 1.67%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted down 1.77%, Germany's DAX slid 1.71% and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 1.53%, while Switzerland's SMI shed 0.92%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye lost 1 to 4%.

Greece and Russia posted modest losses.

In the UK market, Barratt Developments and Next tanked 12.7% and 12.2%, respectively. Next shares fell as the clothes retailer issued its second profit warning this year, citing tough trading in August and cost-of-living pressures.

Ocado Group plunged 10.1%, Auto Trader Group dropped 8.48% and Rightmove fell 7.7%.

Smurfit Kappa Group, Frasers Group, Persimmon, Melrose Industries, Tesco, IAG, M&G, BT Group, Centrica and Barclays Group lost 4 to 7%.

Rolls-Royce Holdings climbed 2.35% and BAE Systems surged 2%, while Glencore, Anglo American Plc and Reckitt Benckiser gained 0.9 to 1.25%.

In Paris, Faurecia tanked 14.7%. Valeo and Renault lost 8.8% and 7%, respectively. Carrefour, STMicroElectronics, WorldLine, Vivendi, Unibail Rodamco, Saint Gobain, Societe Generale, Michelin, Air France-KLM and Publicis Groupe lost 2.6 to 5.5%.

Atos soared nearly 11%. Thales ended higher by about 2.75%.

In the German market, Porsche Automobil plunged nearly 11%. Volkswagen, Continental, Zalando, HelloFresh, Adidas, Daimler, BMW, Infineon Technologies and Deutsche Bank lost 3 to 7%. Munich RE shares gained about 2.5%.