European stocks finished the trading session lower amid growing fears that the eurozone is moving towards an economic recession due to the continued rise in energy prices and inflation. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, in an interview with Bloomberg TV, stressed that the eurozone is not experiencing an economic downturn, citing falling unemployment rates, big savings for families and expectations of an improvement in the tourism sector during the summer.
This comes after Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser warned that European countries are heading towards an economic recession due to several factors, including the war in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis, as well as ongoing supply chain disruptions. In terms of economic data, the purchasing managers’ indices for manufacturing and services in the eurozone recorded lower-than-expected readings in May this year, as the industrial index rose to 54.4 points from 54.8 points expected, and the index services recorded 56.3 points. less than expected, scoring 57.3 points.
As a result of trades, the European index “Stoxx 600” fell by 1.1%, or about 5 points, to 431 points, while the British “FTSE 100” fell by 0.4% (-29 points) to 7484 points. German “Dax” fell 1.8% (~-256 points) to 13.919 points, while French “CAC” fell 1.7% (~106 points) to 6.253 points.
Source: El Iktisad
