European Stocks Fail To Hold Early Gains, End On Mixed Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks failed to hold early gains and ended on a mixed note on Friday with investors assessing the likely impact of the interest rate hikes announced by central banks including the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, on global economic growth.

The Chinese cabinet's pledge to come out with required measures to ramp up support for the ailing economy, and comments by U.S. President Joe Biden that U.S. recession isn't inevitable and that the country was "in a stronger position than any nation in the world to overcome inflation," lifted sentiment early on in the session.

However, with the mood turning cautious past mid afternoon, stocks began to shed gains and eventually ended on a mixed note.

Following the Federal Reserve's announcement of a 75-basis point hike in interest rate on Wednesday, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank raised their lending rates today, aiming to fight the soaring inflation.

Taiwan's central bank also increased its benchmark rate by 0.125 percentage points on Thursday, raising rates for the second time in a row.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.09%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.41%, Germany's DAX gained 0.67%, France's CAC 40 ended 0.06% down, and Switzerland's SMI drifted down 0.23%.

DAX and CAC 40 both shed nearly 5% in the week, while the FTSE 100 shed about 4.1% and the pan European Stoxx 600 lost 4.6% in the week.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Spain and Turkey ended higher.

Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Sweden closed weak, while Austria ended flat.

In the UK market, BP shed more than 6%. Rio Tinto, Shell, Harbour Energy, Antofagasta, Anglo American and Ashtead Group 3.8 to 6.2%. Fresenillo, Standard Chartered and London Stock Exchange also closed sharply lower.

Sage Group and Ocado Group both gained about 5.6%. ICP, Auto Trader Group, JD Sports Fashion, Avast, Pershing Square Holdings, Coca-Cola HBC, Aveva Group, IAG and Pearson gained 2.5 to 4%.

In the French market, WorldLine, Essilor, Danone, Michelin, Atos, Safran, Societe Generale, Cap Gemini, Renault, Airbus Group and Air France-KLM gained 1 to 4.3%.

Carrefour, Air Liquide, Kering, ArcelorMittal and Schneider Electric shed 1.3 to 2%.

In Germany, Deutsche Wohnen climbed more than 7%. Vonovia, Zalando, E.ON, Adidas, Deutsche Post and Symrise gained 2 to 3.5%. Deutsche Telekom, SAP, Bayer, HelloFresh and Infineon Technologies also posted strong gains.

Merck declined more than 3%. Brenntag, Porsche Automobil and Covestro shed 1 to 2%.

In European economic news today, Eurozone inflation accelerated to a fresh record high in May driven by surging energy prices, final data from Eurostat showed. Inflation rose to 8.1% in May, in line with flash estimate, from 7.4% in April. A year earlier, the rate was 2%.

Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, increased to 3.8% from 3.5% in the previous month. The core rate also came in line with the estimate published on May 31.