© Reuters. An electronic screen displays data for the German DAX index on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Friday. Photography: Reuters.
(Reuters) – European stocks fell on Friday as investors tempered their expectations for major central banks to reduce borrowing costs this year, and focus turned to the next meeting of the European Central Bank.
The European index fell 0.3 percent at the close after rising 0.5 percent during the session.
The index suffered weekly losses of 1.6 percent this week after comments from European Central policymakers hinted at tightening and prompted traders to reconsider their expectations regarding lowering interest rates.
The real estate sector, which is highly sensitive to interest rates, topped the losing sectors this week, followed by the basic resources sector by a slight margin.
During the session, the basic resources sector topped the losses, falling 1.4 percent, while shares of the services and industrial goods sector fell 0.9 percent due to the decline in the shares of the Swiss Engineering Group (ABB) after documents showed that the group’s operations in China are subject to careful examination by two congressional committees. American.
The focus will now shift to the next ECB fiscal policy meeting scheduled for January 25. It is widely expected that the bank will maintain current rates.
The British retail sector recorded the largest decline in nearly three years in December, raising fears of a recession. The British Financial Times 100 index closed unchanged.
(Prepared by Muhammad Aysem for the Arabic Bulletin – Edited by Moaz Abdel Aziz)
2024-01-19 19:25:00
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