European Stocks Close Lower On Recession Fears And Rate Hike Concerns

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Monday as rising fears of aggressive monetary tightening by central banks, and concerns about a possible recession in major economies kept investors nervous.

Russia will halt natural gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month, state energy giant Gazprom said on Friday, deepening the energy crunch that's threatening to plunge the region into a recession.

Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel told German newspaper Rheinischen Post that inflation in Germany could hit a 70-year high of 10 percent this fall as Russian natural-gas supplies slow.

A recession appears likely next winter but the European Central Bank should continue increasing rates to tame inflation, he added.

Elsewhere, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said on Friday that the "urge" among central bankers was towards faster, front-loaded rate increases.

Markets also looked ahead to minutes of the European Central Bank's last policy meeting, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's key speech as the Fed's annual economic symposium this week for additional clues on the economic and rate outlook.

The pan European Stoxx 600 drifted down 0.96%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.22% down, Germany's DAX dropped 2.32% and France's CAC 40 declined 1.8%, while Switzerland's SMI shed 0.64%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden closed weak.

Denmark, Portugal, Russia and Turkiye ended higher.

In the German market, Covestro, Zalando, Adidas, Porsche Automobil, Volkswagen, BASF, Siemens, Continental, Infineon Technologies, Daimler, BMW, HeidelbergCement and Deutsche Post lost 3 to 7%.

Fresenius climbed more than 3.5%. Qiagen and Deutsche Telekom posted modest gains.

In Paris, Faurecia tumbled more than 9%. Valeo ended lower by about 6.1%. Dassault Systemes, Atos, Renault, Air France-KLM, Publicis Groupe, Legrand, Saint Gobain, Michelin, Essilor, Kering and Societe Generale shed 3 to 4.75%.

Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Safran, STMicroElectronics and Capgemini also ended sharply lower, while Sanofi surged 1.7%.

In the UK market, Just Eat Takeway.com shares plunged more than 9%.

TUI ended 5.6% down. Easyjet, Scottish Mortgage, IAG, Hargreaves Lansdown, Ocado Group, WPP, Melrose Industries, Persimmon, ICP and Informa also ended sharply lower.

Centrica advanced nearly 2%. BHP Group, AstraZeneca, Standard Chartered, National Grid, British American Tobacco, SSE, Reckitt Benckiser and Glencore gained 1 to 1.75%.