European stocks slumped Thursday in early trade, losing ground for a fourth session as traders looked for a new catalyst after the breathtaking rally from the depths of the coronavirus crisis.
Up 32% from its March lows, the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -2.64% skidded 2.5%.
Decliners included airline Deutsche Lufthansa LHA, -9.71% , oil service firm John Wood Group WG, -7.09% and travel agent TUI TUI, -7.83% .
The German DAX DAX, -2.81% fell 2.7%, French CAC 40 PX1, -3.05% tumbled 2.9% and U.K. FTSE 100 UKX, -2.63% dropped 2.5%.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00, -1.99% fell 544 points, after the 282-point drop for the blue chips DJIA, -1.03% on Wednesday.
The Federal Reserve didn’t make too many surprise moves in its decision announced after markets had closed in Asia and Europe. The Fed committed to buy Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities at the current pace, and Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank wasn’t “thinking about thinking about” raising interest rates.
“Yes, investors appear to have continued locking profits after the recent steep surge in equities, but we don’t expect this to last for long. Eventually, the continued easing of the lockdown measures, combined with more data suggesting that the worse with regards to the coronavirus is behind us, may allow investors to increase their risk exposures again,” said Charalambos Pissouros, senior market analyst at JFD Group.
Just Eat Takeaway JET, -2.43% shares fell over 3% after announcing its deal to buy U.S. meal-delivery service GrubHub GRUB, +1.95% in an all-stock deal. Just Eat shares had dropped 13% on Wednesday as The Wall Street Journal had reported the deal was close.
Unilever’s Dutch-listed shares UNA, +3.79% UN, +0.88% rose 3.5% after announcing it would consolidate its dual-headed legal structure under the U.K.-listed entity ULVR, +1.73% UL, +1.36% . The Anglo-Dutch household giant also said it could demerge its tea business and possibly spin off its foods and refreshment division.
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