Stocks in Europe plummeted to a three-week low on Thursday following an influx of earnings reports that failed to meet expectations and data indicating a slowdown in economic activity in the eurozone.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell by 0.9%, marking its third consecutive day of losses. This comes as U.S. bond yields hit nine-month peaks, thereby adding to the pressure caused by the aforementioned data.
“We have a mixed macro picture in Europe,” Karim Chedid, head of investment strategy for iShares at BlackRock for EMEA observed. “The decline in PMIs last week was notable and inflation remains a bit firm. We still have this growth-inflation trade-off that central banks have to navigate.”
HCOB’s final Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which is regarded as a good overall gauge of economic health, dropped to an eight-month low of 48.6 in July.