European stocks were moving lower on Thursday as technology stocks fell after Facebook’s weak earnings and forecast miss.
Tightening jitters and inflationary pressures also weighed, a day after data showed Euro zone inflation rose to a record high last month.
The Eurozone composite purchasing managers index dropped to 52.3 in January from 53.3 in December, reflecting softer growth among service providers due to constraints resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, IHS Markit said.
Investors awaited the outcome of ECB and BoE meetings for further direction.
The Bank of England is expected to raise rates by as much as 50-basis-points in its second consecutive increase in rates later today.
The European Central bank isn’t expected to announce any changes at today’s meeting, but investors will carefully listen to Lagarde’s press conference for any signs of hawkishness.
The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped half a percent to 474.50 after gaining half a percent on Wednesday.
The German DAX dipped half a percent, France’s CAC 40 index slipped 0.4 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was marginally lower.
German semiconductor company Infineon Technologies plunged 4 percent despite reporting higher Q1 profit and lifting its FY revenue outlook. Dassault Systèmes fell 3.2 percent and ASM International gave up 3.3 percent.
Rational AG dropped 3.4 percent. The company said it expects the volatile situation in materials procurement to persist in 2022.
Swiss drug maker Roche declined 2.6 percent after saying it sees slower sales growth in 2022.
Sweden’s Skanska jumped 4 percent. The builder posted quarterly profit that beat market forecasts.
Nokia lost 3.7 percent. The Finnish telecoms equipment maker reported that its fourth-quarter profit was 680 million euros, compared to last year’s hefty loss of 2.70 billion euros.
ING Group lost 4 percent. The Dutch bank reported higher-than-expected provisions in its fourth quarter.
Future Plc shares slumped 4.3 percent. The media firm said in a trading update that its performance for the four-month period to January 31 was in line with its expectations.
Shell rose nearly 2 percent. The oil major reported a sharp upswing in full-year profit, raised dividend and announced a share buyback program.
Catering contractor Compass Group surged as much as 8.4 percent after its performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 improved from the previous quarter.
Telecommunications firm BT tumbled 3 percent after it entered exclusive discussions with Discovery (DISCA.O) to create a joint venture between BT Sport and pan-European TV network Eurospor.
Publicis Groupe jumped 2.5 percent. The French advertising agency company expects first-quarter organic growth to be slightly above the full year guidance range.
Aerospace firm Thales gained more than 1 percent. Commenting on the rumors about the potential interest of acquiring Atos’s cyber-security business, the company said there is no such discussion going on with Atos.
Thales also said it is potentially interested in buying any cybersecurity asset that could be for sale.
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