(RTTNews) – European stocks ended on a negative note on Thursday, despite a fairly smart recovery in declining declines in the last few hours after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell described historic adjustments to the Fed’s financial policy strategy.
Concerns about emerging tensions between the United States and China and persistent considerations about the effect of the coronavirus pandemic have made the environment cautious.
While the United States blacklisted 24 Chinese corporations and targeted Americans who said they were of army structure and action in the South China Sea, Beijing fired 4 missiles into the world’s most controversial water frame, further aggravating tensions between the two countries.
The Pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell by 0.64%. The UK’s FTSE 100 fell by 0.75%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.71% and France’s CAC 40 closed with a 0.64% drop, while the SMI in Switzerland closed with a 0.67% drop.
Poland and Sweden declined marginally, while Iceland and Turkey closed higher.
In the UK market, Anglo American, Persimmon, CRH, Evraz, Standard Chartered, Johnson Matthey, Schroders, Ashtead Group, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Astrazeneca from 1.7 to 2.7%.
Among the winners, WPP shares rose more than 6.5%, as the company resumed paying dividends after cuts and a move towards faster advertising production.
Carnival rose 5.4% and Compass Group by 4.3%, while IAG, ITV, TUI, Aveva Group and EasyJet rose from 3 to 4%.
Airbus shares won almost 3%. Valeo, Publicis Groupe and Accor climbed from 2.4% to 2.8%. Bouygues ended up with more than 2% after reporting a better-than-expected quarterly profit. After reporting a net loss in the first part of the year, the French trade organization said it would return to a significant return in the current part of 2020, without achieving the best grades in the current part of 2019.
In the German market, Wirecard closed to 3.4%, expanding recent losses. Infineon Technologies lost approximately 2.1%, while Bayer, RWE, Deutsche Post and Munich RE lost between 1% and 1.8%.
Delivery Hero shares fell dramatically after the company announced the acquisition of InstaShop grocery service.
Lufthansa won almost 2.5%. Volkswagen and BMW ended up higher.
Another SURVEY on INSEE’s commercial investment showed that leaders had downgraded their investment outlook for this year, predicting a double-digit contraction.
The manufacturers’ business confidence index rose higher than expected to 93 in August from 82 in July. The expected reading 85. The valuation of business leaders from beyond the activity increased sharply from -41 to -2.
The Swiss economy at a record pace this quarter, with severely limited economic activity amid the coronavirus pandemic, showed the knowledge published through the Secretary of State for the Economy, or SECO.
Gross domestic product declined 8.2% sequentially in the quarter after falling 2.5% in the last quarter.
Compared to the fourth quarter situation, before the coronavirus crisis, GDP generally fell by 10.5% in the first part of 2020. On an annual basis, GDP fell from 9.3% to 0.7% in the first quarter and economists forecast -9.6%.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced a widely anticipated replacement in the stability component of the central bank’s dual mandate value.
In a speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, Powell said the Fed would replace his technique with a “flexible form of average inflation targets.”
The Fed leader that the longest-term purpose remains a 2% inflation rate, however, noted that inflation will be on average below 2% if it rises below 2% as a result of economic recessions and never exceeds that point even when the economy is strong.
The Fed chief’s comments were noted as an indication that the central bank will leave interest rates close to 0 for the long foreseeable long term, even if there is an acceleration in the rate of inflation.