Europe markets lower after BOE, ECB policy updates
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.8% lower during morning trade, with only the oil and gas sector in positive territory.
Energy stocks were up 1.6% after Britain’s energy regulator lifted its energy price cap by 54% on Thursday, meaning millions of households will see their annual fuel bills rise by around £700 ($950) from April.
Autos stocks led losses, shedding 2.5% during early trade.
Thursday saw the European Central Bank keep interest rates unchanged in spite of record inflation levels across the euro zone. The Bank of England, however, hiked rates in its first back-to-back interest rates rise since 2004.
Major European bourses, including the French CAC index and Germany’s DAX, dipped into negative territory on Friday, with the German index shedding more than 1%. The FTSE 100, meanwhile, was up 0.2%.
The ECB resisted pressure to raise rates at a time of unprecedented inflation, with the most recent reading hitting a record 5.1% last month. Christine Lagarde, the central bank’s president, said on Thursday that although inflation was likely to remain elevated for longer than previously thought, the ECB expected it to ease throughout 2022.
Meanwhile, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Thursday it was likely the BoE would need to raise rates again, after hiking its main interest rate to 0.5% in a bid to contain soaring inflation, which hit a 30-year high in the U.K. in January.
Investors are also weighing up fresh economic data out of the continent. Retail sales in the euro zone saw a month-on-month decline of 3% in December, but gained 2% from a year earlier.
German industrial orders grew 2.8% in December from a month earlier, data showed on Friday, whereas France saw its industrial output contract by 0.2% between November and December.
Across the Atlantic, U.S. non-farm payroll figures are also due to be published later on Friday.
Elsewhere, stocks in Asia-Pacific markets were trading higher on Friday, after Wall Street suffered heavy losses on Thursday that saw the Nasdaq Composite shed 4%.
Stocks on the move
Swedish manufacturer Assa Abloy surged to the top of the Stoxx 600 on Friday, gaining 5% after publishing a strong 2021 full year earnings report.
Lenders Caixabank and BNP Paribas also moved toward the top of the index, alongside oil giants BP and Shell.
At the other end of the Stoxx 600, Swedish medtech company AddLife was down by 20%, despite posting a 59% growth in earnings for 2021. The company announced on Thursday that its CEO, Kristina Willgard, would step down this year.
