By Susan Mathew and Devik Jain
(Reuters) – European stocks fell on Wednesday after higher-than-expected US inflation data for June on more aggressive monetary policy action by the Federal Reserve, while the European Central Bank remained under pressure. Dollar.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended down 1% when data showed US consumer prices rose 9.1% last month, the biggest annual increase in more than four decades amid rising costs of gasoline, food and rent.
The auto and construction and materials sectors were the biggest losers in the European index, falling 2.3% and 1.8%, respectively.
“We believe Europe is at greater risk of going into a recession than the US,” said Ankit Ghedia, head of equities and derivatives strategy for Europe at BNP Paribas.
“Given that stock valuations already reflect a 20% compression of earnings in Europe, we anticipate a 20% drop from that level if gas is not supplied.”
The STOXX 600 index and the euro zone blue-chip index are down 15.4% and 19.6% year-on-year as investors fear aggressive monetary policy tightening will hit growth.
The Financial Times Index in London fell 0.74% to 7,156.37.
The DAX index fell 1.16% to 12,756.32 in Frankfurt.
In Paris, the CAC-40 index fell 0.73% to 6,000.24 points.
In MILAN, the Ftse/Mib index was devalued by 0.93%, standing at 21,286.33 points.
In Madrid, the IBEX-35 index closed at 7,944.90, down 0.87%.
In Lisbon, the PSI20 index fell 0.97% to 5,863.41 points.
