European stocks fall near 5-month low ahead of ECB rate decision

Economies.com
2020-10-29 12:08PM UTC

European stocks fell on Thursday, to deepen losses for the fourth straight day, near touching a 5-month low, due to investors' risk-aversion, after Germany and France announced new shutdown measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and ahead of the European Central Bank monetary policy decisions.

 

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.4% as of 11:35 GMT, after it closed lower by 3% yesterday, and hit the lowest since May 25 at 339.75 points.

 

The pan European index opened lower today, to deepen losses for the fourth straight day, with most of the major European markets and sectors seeing red today.

 

The travel and leisure sector saw the largest losses in Europe today, dropping over 1.5%, due to fears over the second wave of the coronavirus.

 

The French government announced yesterday a full lockdown starting Friday for a month on all activities, except essential services, and the German government ordered to close bars, theaters, and restaurants, from November 2 until the end of the month to curb the coronavirus spread.

 

The European Central Bank will announce its policy decisions later today as the economy continues to buckle under the weight of new shutdown measures. 

 

The ECB interest rate decision and monetary policy statement will be unveiled at 12:45 GMT, and the Bank's President Christine Lagarde will deliver a speech at 13:30 GMT.

 

S&P 500 futures fell over 0.5%, and hit a 5-week low after closing lower by 3.5% yesterday at Wall Street, and posted the third straight daily loss.

 

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.8%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.9%, Germany's DAX fell 0.5%, and the UK's FTSE 100 lost 0.1%.

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