European Stocks Close Broadly Lower

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly lower on Thursday amid concerns about interest rates following Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterating his warning to lawmakers that the central bank may rise rates higher than previously anticipated.

Weaker-than-expected inflation data from China also weighed on sentiment.

Powell acknowledged during the second day of congressional testimony that the Fed was wrong in initially thinking inflation was only the result of "transitory" factors.

Investors also digested the latest batch of economic data from the European region, and some quarterly earnings updates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 drifted down 0.22%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.63% and France's CAC 40 slid 0.12%, and Germany's DAX edged up 0.01%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.69% down.

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

Denmark, Greece and Turkiye closed higher, while Netherlands and Portugal ended flat.

In the UK market, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Smith (DS), Rio Tinto, Entain, Ocado Group and Antofagasta ended lower by 4 to 5%.

Endeavour Mining shed nearly 4%. British Land Co., Barclays, Beazley, ABRDN, Glencore, Weir Group, Anglo American Plc, Johnson Mathey and Segro lost 2 to 3.4%.

Aviva, Informa, BAE Systems, Frasers Group, Rentokil Initial, Sage Group and Centrica gained 1 to 3%.

In Paris, Unibail Rodamco ended nearly 4% down. Renault shed about 3%. BNP Paribas, Stellantis, Societe Generale, Teleperformance, Publicis Groupe, Saint Gobain, Credit Agricole and Michelin lost 1 to 2%.

Thales rallied 2.8% and Eurofins Scientific climbed 2.3%, while Worldline, Schneider Electric, STMicroElectronics, Safran and Danone gained 1 to 1.7%.

In the German market, Vonovia ended lower by about 5%. Zalando and Hannover Rueck both shed about 3%. Volkswagen, Fresenius, BMW, Commerzbank, Porsche, Continental, Symrise, Deutsche Bank and Brenntag lost 1 to 2%.

Adidas surged about 3.5%. Sartorius, Siemens Energy, Siemens Healthineers, Deutsche Boerse and Deutsche Post gained 1.5 to 2%. Infineon Technologies and Siemens both gained about 1%.

On the economic front, France's payroll employment increased in the fourth quarter reflecting the improvement in the private sector job creation, final data from the statistical office INSEE showed earlier today.

Overall payroll employment grew 0.2% or 44,000 in the fourth quarter. This was slower than the 0.3% or 84,100 jobs created in the third quarter.

The UK housing market activity continued the downbeat trend in February amid tighter lending conditions and stretched mortgage affordability, though there were signs of gradual improvement over the coming months, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported Thursday. The headline reading for new buyer enquiries advanced to -29% in February from -45% in January.