European stocks fell on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it plans to hike interest rates in March and end its bond purchases that month to counter escalating inflation.
Regional markets, however, came off their day’s lows on the back of positive earnings news.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.6 percent at 464.30 after climbing 1.7 percent on Wednesday.
The German DAX was down 0.9 percent and France’s CAC 40 index slid 0.6 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was marginally higher, reversing early losses.
French-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics jumped 4.4 percent. The company announced plans to double its investments this year after posting higher net profit for the fourth quarter.
EasyJet rose about 1 percent in London. The low-cost airline said it has seen a recent boost in bookings from the move to scrap Covid travel tests.
Private equity firm 3i Group gained 1 percent after posting total return of 32.6 percent for the nine months to 31 December 2021.
Soft drink maker Britvic rallied 2.1 percent after reporting strong performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2022.
Online trading platform IG Group Holdings surged 4.4 percent after its profit before tax for the half year grew 8 percent to 245.2 million pounds.
Business software group SAP plunged 6 percent after it agreed to buy a majority stake in privately held U.S. fintech firm Taulia.
Lender Deutsche Bank jumped 3.8 percent after posting a surprise profit in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Power generator RWE advanced 2.4 percent after significantly exceeding its guidance for 2021.
European Shares Cut Losses As Focus Shifts To Earnings
2022-01-27 09:49:57
