Shares across Europe are set for a weak start amid rising rate worries
Shares across Europe are set for a weak start on rising rate worries. European shares are all set to follow a fall at Wall Street and across Asian markets. A number of factors triggered the fall in European shares which include renewed brexit fears, rising bond yields and an overnight sell-off in Apple shares. The fall in Apple shares were driven by reports of Apple cutting down the production of its iPhone X. All the three factors have dented investors’ appetite for riskier assets.
Expectations of a rise in interest rates globally took Asian stock markets lower and a firm dollar on higher bond yields. Meanwhile, concerns over rising U.S. oil output brought oil prices down for the second consecutive day.
Eurostat is scheduled to issue euro area GDP data, with economists expecting the currency bloc to grow 0.6 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter. The market sentiment is also expected to be influenced by the European Commission’s economic confidence survey figures and Germany’s flash consumer price data. Elsewhere, Hungary’s Central Bank is expected to keep its key rate unchanged at 0.90 percent when it reviews its monetary policy.
Janet Yellen will preside over her final meeting as Federal Reserve Chair today and tomorrow. In the UK, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will speak before the U.K. Parliament’s Economic Affairs Committee in London.
U.S. stocks pulled back from their record highs overnight as investors weighed the latest earnings releases and deal news and looked ahead to a busy week of economic data. The Dow and the S&P 500 were down 0.7 percent each while Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5 per cent.
In Europe, banks and energy stocks came under selling pressure triggering a rally in the technology sector resulting in European markets ending Monday’s session on a mixed note. European markets which were down include the pan-European Stoxx Europe, German DAX and France’s CAC 40 index, whereas the UK’s FTSE 100 went up. While the pan-European Stoxx Europe was down 0.2 per cent, German DAX and France’s CAC were down 0.1 per cent each and the UK’s FTSE was up 0.1 per cent.
