European Markets Rise – Russia Sanctions in Center
Russia sanctions in focus: European markets advanced on Thursday. The volatility continued after the details of the US Federal Reserve monetary tightening plans and the ongoing war in Ukraine. The Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.6% in early trading. Healthcare shares increased 1.4%. The oil and gas sector declined by 0.6%. The European Blue Chip Index closed down about 1.6% on Wednesday; Because the harsh comments of the two Fed politicians raise expectations that the central bank will start tightening more aggressively.
Wall Street sold for the second day in a row on Wednesday. Minutes of the Fed meeting showed that officials were planning to cut their bonds by trillions by a consensus of about $95 billion. At the same time, policymakers have indicated that raising interest rates by one or more than 50 points may be guaranteed to combat rising inflation. On Thursday, US stock futures were lower at the beginning of the trading session. Asia-Pacific stocks also fell. The Nikkei 225 lost almost 2% before the lead loss.
Investors worldwide are also watching the results of China’s tight Covid-19 control. The country is still battling another increase in cases, potentially further disrupting global supply chains. They are also awaiting details of a new round of Western sanctions against Russia. Since then, evidence has emerged of possible war crimes in Ukraine.
European Markets and Sanctions
NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels on Wednesday for a two-day meeting to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the response of an international organization. In corporate news, Credit Suisse re-released its historical financial results on Thursday morning to reflect the reporting structure of the new division, which was released in November.
In terms of individual stock price movements in Europe, Swedish steel company SSAB fell more than 8% to the bottom of the Stoxx 600. At the top of the index, the Italian road and airport operator Atlantia rose more than 10%; After Brookfield Infrastructure and Global Infrastructure Partners announced that they had put forward a possible takeover bid for the company.
