European stocks declined on Wednesday, as caution prevailed ahead of interest-rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.
Sentiment was also hit after the European Union announced a new sanctions package against Russia, including an embargo on Russian oil.
The pan European Stoxx 600 was down 0.6 percent at 443.55 after rising half a percent on Tuesday.
The German DAX slipped 0.4 percent, while France’s CAC 40 index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 both declined around half a percent.
Volkswagen traded flat after the German carmaker stuck to its outlook for the current year.
Medical device make Siemens Healthineers rallied 2 percent after raising its 2022 targets.
HUGO BOSS slumped 5.6 percent despite the luxury fashion house posting strong sales growth in the first quarter of 2022.
Insurance and asset management company Allianz SE gave up 1 percent after it joined forces with Sanlam, a pan-African financial services group, to create an African insurance major.
French electric utility EDF tumbled 2.7 percent. The company reported a jump in Q1 sales but core profit outlook was capped by nuclear reactor outages.
Miners Anglo American and Rio Tinto fell around 1 percent in London on brokerage downgrades.
HSBC rose more than 1 percent after launching its planned $1bn share buyback.
Bookmaking holding company Flutter Entertainment jumped 5 percent after reporting higher revenue in the first quarter, thanks to its fast-expanding U.S. business.
Online fashion retailer Boohoo plunged 17 percent after a warning that revenue growth would be impacted in the first half.
In economic releases, German exports fell 3.3 percent month-on-month in March, in contrast to the 6.2 percent expansion seen in February, data showed earlier in the day. Shipments were forecast to drop 2.0 percent.
Overall imports grew 3.4 percent, following a 4.7 percent rise in February.
European Shares Retreat Ahead Of Fed, BoE Rate Decisions
2022-05-04 09:53:34
