Stock prices in the U.S. and Europe fell on Thursday as investor sentiment was dampened by fears that tighter restrictions on Covid-19 could worsen a cautious economic recovery, and U.S. employment data released.
The London Stock Exchange index fell 1.7% following the British government’s announcement of stricter restrictions on Covid-19 in the capital due to an increase in infections.
The Paris Stock Exchange index fell 2.1% after the announcement of a curfew in nine major cities, including Paris, for six weeks due to the new coronavirus.
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange index fell 2.5% after Germany tightened restrictions on Covid-19 and the European Union (EU) Agency for Disease Control recognized more than half of EU member states as Covid-19 red zones.
“Market participants are getting rid of stocks for fear that economic activity will fall due to tighter restrictions in various parts of Europe,” said David Maden, an analyst at CMC Markets.
“Recent restrictions are likely to hamper the recovery of the European economy, which had already begun to lose momentum before concerns returned. [par Covid-19 izplatību].”
The fall on Wall Street was fueled by the US Department of Employment data that the number of new claims for unemployment benefits in the US rose unexpectedly by 53,000 last week.
Analysts had predicted that the number of new claims for unemployment benefits would fall to 825,000 last week, up from 840,000 initially estimated in previous weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 28,494.20 points on Thursday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.2% to 3,483.34 points, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5% to 11,713.87 points.
The London Stock Exchange index FTSE 100 fell by 1.7% to 5832.52 points on Thursday, the Frankfurt stock exchange index DAX 30 fell by 2.5% to 12,703.75 points, while the Paris stock exchange index CAC 40 fell by 2.1% to 4837 , 35 points.
In the New York Stock Exchange e-commerce, the price of WTI crude oil remained unchanged on Thursday at $ 41.03 per barrel. The price of Brent crude oil fell 0.3% to $ 43.20 a barrel on the London Stock Exchange.
The euro fell against the US dollar from 1.1746 to 1.1702 dollars per euro on Thursday, the British pound fell from 1.3012 to 1.2896 dollars per pound, and the US dollar rose from 105.17 against the Japanese yen. to 105.42 yen per dollar. The euro appreciated against the pound sterling from 90.27 to 90.73 pence per euro.
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