On Thursday's trading, key European stocks steadily declined amid weak statistics of the euro area regions. At the same time, the German DAX is the top loser as it plunged by almost 2.5%.
At the time of writing the article, the STOXX Europe 600 index of Europe's leading companies dropped by 1.27% to 408.16 points. The British FTSE 100 fell by 1.83%, the French CAC 40 declined by 2.39% and the German DAX lost 2.47%.
Shares of German energy holding Uniper SE, software developer SAP SE and chemical company Lanxess AG topped the list of top losers among the STOXX Europe 600 components. They fell by 16.37%, 5.8%, and 5.4% respectively.
Experts predict that in June major European indices will suffer considerable losses. Thus, the drop of German DAX may reach more than 11%.
Top gainers and losers
British pharmaceutical company Shield Therapeutics PLC stock plummeted by 25%. According to the outcome of 2021, the company increased its net loss and was unable to raise $30 million in capital by issuing shares.
The market capitalization of UK-based Kingswood Holdings Ltd. soared by 3.3% after the news that the company had earned record revenues and operating profits for 2021.
The stock price of Swedish defense materials group Saab rose by 5%. The day before, the company received an order from the Swedish government for GlobalEye early warning and airspace monitoring aircraft.
Current market situation
On Thursday, weak domestic statistics for the EU member states became a significant downward factor for European stocks. Thus, according to Germany's Federal Employment Agency data, the unemployment rate in Germany rose to 5.3% in June from 5.0% in May, while experts predicted the rate to remain at the level of the previous month. At the same time, the number of unemployed in the country jumped by 133,000 against analysts' expectations of a decline by 5,000.
According to Germany's Federal Statistics Office data, retail sales in the country grew by 0.6% compared to April. Analysts expected the index to rise only by 0.5%.
At the same time, consumer prices in Germany advanced by 8.2% year-on-year in June after a record rise in May by 8.7%.
In the first quarter of 2022, the UK economy grew by 0.8% compared to the previous three months. The current figure was 0.7% above the pre-pandemic level.
According to preliminary data from the National Statistics Office of France Insee, in June consumer prices increased by 6.5% year-on-year, a record growth in the history of the index. At the same time, market experts predicted an average rise in consumer prices only by 6.3%.
Earlier, the Spanish Statistical Office reported that in June consumer prices in Spain had risen to its highest level since 1985, i.e. by 10.2% in annual terms, according to preliminary estimates.
Moreover, European investors continue to worry about the prospects of a global economic recession due to the tight monetary policy of key central banks. Thus, the day before ECB President Christine Lagarde announced that the regulator intended to raise the prime rate by 25 basis points in July. At the same time, she added that the European Central Bank planned even more significant tightening of monetary policy at a meeting in September if necessary. According to Lagarde, the ECB must try hard to bring inflation in the euro area back to the regulator's target of 2%.
The latest US data became an additional downward factor for the European stock market on Thursday. Therefore, consumer confidence in the country plummeted to a 16-month low in June amid record-high inflation growth.
Previous trading results
On Wednesday, European stocks sank considerably amid investors' concerns about the prospects for the global economy. The decline came after three trading sessions of steady growth.
Consequently, the STOXX Europe 600 index of Europe's leading companies fell by 0.67% to 413.12 points.
The fall list was headed by Shares of Dutch food delivery service Just Eat Takeaway.com N.V., cruise operator Carnival PLC and biotech company Grifols SA topped the list of top losers.They plunged by 16.52%, 16.34%, and 12.33% respectively.
The British FTSE 100 lost 0.15% to 7,312.32 points, the French CAC 40 was down 0.9% to 6,031.48 points and the German DAX sank by 1.73% to 1,3003.35 points.
The value of the second largest Swedish clothing retailer H&M stock soared by 2.2%. The day before, the company reported a 33% increase in net profit in the second fiscal quarter.
The market capitalization of online gift retailer Moonpig Group PLC rose by 5.0%. The company boosted its pretax profit in fiscal 2022 and reaffirmed its financial outlook for the next year.
