European Stocks Dive on Hawkish Fed Minutes, Oil Sell-Off
The European stock markets extend their downward spiral for the second
straight session this Thursday, as risk-off market profile persists amid
extended sell-off in the oil prices and surprisingly hawkish minutes of
the FOMC April meeting.
Both crude benchmarks lose over 2% amid rising supply worries. While the
FOMC minutes showed that a June Fed hike is back on the card, which
means withdrawal of cheap money from the markets.
Moreover, the European traders failed to benefit from upbeat UK retail
sales data, as falling oil prices weighed heavily on the resource and
energy stocks on the region’s index. The UK retail sales data showed a
rebound of 1.3% and 4.3% m/m in April. Markets had forecast gains of
just 0.7% and 2.5%, respectively.
Meanwhile, Germany's DAX 30 index
drops -1.55% to trade at 9,789, while the UK's FTSE 100 index slides
-1.44% to 6,077. Among the other indices, the French CAC 40 index
declines -0.90% to 4,279, while the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index
loses -1.13% to 2,922.
Attention now remains on the ECB monetary policy accounts due later this session for further momentum on the markets.
