European stock markets ended the day in negative territory following interest rate decisions by major central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Bank of England (BoE).
At the close of trading, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index fell by 0.78% to 536.11 points.
Germany’s DAX 40 dropped 1.12% to 23,056.71 points, while France’s CAC 40 declined by 1.34% to 7,553.45 points.
In Italy, the FTSE MIB 30 index lost 1.21% to end at 38,942.19 points, and the UK’s FTSE 100 fell 0.58% to 8,791.8 points.
As of 19:06 local time (Baku time), the euro/dollar exchange rate had slipped 0.192%, trading at 1.146.
In global markets, investors were monitoring the Fed’s decision yesterday to keep interest rates unchanged, as well as ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. On the European side, the BoE also kept its policy rate unchanged at 4.25%, in line with market expectations.
The Bank of England highlighted that rising tensions in the Middle East are pushing up energy prices, which in turn could intensify inflationary pressures. The BoE reiterated that future interest rate decisions will follow a data-driven approach.
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