Europe’s main stock markets were little changed Thursday despite interest rate cuts by the eurozone and Swiss central banks as policymakers warned of economic and political woes in the region and beyond.
Wall Street shares pulled back a day after the tech-heavy Nasdaq topped 20,000 points for the first time.
The Paris CAC 40 index ended the day flat while the Frankfurt DAX added 0.1 percent after the European Central Bank (ECB) cut its interest rates by 25 basis points, marking its third consecutive reduction and fourth this year overall.
ECB President Christine Lagarde said policymakers discussed political “uncertainty” in Europe and the United States before deciding on the cut.
She mentioned “political situations in some of the member states” and the US presidential election won by Donald Trump.
Lagarde warned that the eurozone economy was “losing momentum” and that “the risk of greater friction in global trade could weigh on euro area growth”.
Earlier, the Swiss National Bank surprised markets with a 50-basis-point reduction in its rate, citing slowing inflation and uncertainty over the impact of Trump’s economic policies and Europe’s political upheaval.
The franc fell against the dollar and the euro following the announcement.
With growth still weak and France and Germany in political crises there have been calls for the ECB to move faster.
Germany is heading towards early elections in February following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government as Europe’s biggest economy falters.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron is due to appoint a new prime minister after MPs toppled the government of Michel Barnier last week.
Sylvain Broyer, an economist at S&P Global Ratings, said Europe was suffering from “a real crisis of confidence whose roots run deep and go beyond economic factors”.
“The ECB must react and speed up the pace of rate cuts, unless low confidence derails the nascent recovery and jeopardizes the return to price stability,” he said.
US inflation
Investors are also focused on the US Federal Reserve’s own interest rate decision next week.
Consumer inflation data on Wednesday was in line with expectations as it inched slightly higher in November to 2.7 percent.
But figures on Thursday showed US wholesale inflation also ticked higher in November.
Nonetheless, futures markets continued to show high confidence the Fed will still cut interest rates next week.
But there are concerns that measures pledged by Trump to slash taxes and regulations and ramp up tariffs could reignite price increases.
In Asia, Hong Kong and Shanghai rallied amid hopes that leaders in China will unveil more help for the economy, which is struggling under the weight of weak consumer spending and a chronic property crisis.
Tokyo gained more than one percent on a weaker yen.
Key figures around 2130 GMT
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.5 percent 43,014.12 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.5 percent at 6,051.25 (close)
New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 19,902.84 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 at 8,311.76 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: FLAT at 7,420.94 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 20,426.27 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 39,849.14 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.2 percent at 20,397.05 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 3,461.50 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0468 from $1.0496 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2669 from $1.2751
Dollar/yen: UP at 152.68 yen from 152.45 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 82.59 from 82.31 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $70.02 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $73.41 per barrel
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