The Madrid Stock Exchange and calm in trading on the eve of the Christmas holidays (Getty)
The pan-European STOXX 600 index settled on a weak path ahead of the holidays after a turbulent week in which hopes for an improvement in the economic outlook dimmed the European economy. fears of recession and aggressive central bank monetary policies.
The Stoxx 600 closed with little change, but rallied by 0.6% for the week.
After posting early gains over the week, the index made up for a small portion of last week’s staggering 3.3% loss, which was the result of Growing concerns of a recession after the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank signaled a protracted cycle of rate hikes.
And it has exacerbated these concerns and hurt expectations that the actions will witness European A growing surge before the end of the year, after the release of US data yesterday, Thursday, which revealed the strength of the economy.
But upbeat earnings from Nike and FedEx this week, along with improving consumer confidence in the US and the Eurozone, have given some hope that the economic slowdown caused by sharp interest rate hikes may not be as bad as feared.
Friday’s data showed that sentiment among Italian businesses and consumers rose in December, although the manufacturing sector was more pessimistic.
Mining inventories rose 0.8% as copper prices rose on dwindling inventories and hopes of an economic recovery next year. The index of industrial companies gained 0.3% and the banking index rose after posting a decline in the previous session.
The interest rate sensitive technology sub-index fell 0.6%, trimming the gains of the main index.
(Reuters, The New Arab)
