Naomi Rovnick
European stock markets fell on Wednesday after energy prices spiked, the IMF trimmed its economic growth expectations and New Zealand became the latest central bank to raise interest rates.
The regional Stoxx 600 index fell 1 per cent in early dealings. London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.9 per cent.
The declines follow share price falls in Asia, where Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.3 per cent and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.1 per cent.
Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, rose 0.4 per cent to $83 a barrel, having advanced by almost 5 per cent so far this week after a natural gas shortage drove up demand, increasing concerns about inflation just as the US central bank prepares to reduce its pandemic-era monetary stimulus.
The UK’s 10-year government bond yield, which moves inversely to its price, traded at 1.091 per cent on Wednesday morning, its highest since May 2019.
Germany’s 10-year bund yield added 0.03 percentage points to minus 0.162 per cent, its highest since June. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for borrowing costs worldwide, rose to a four-month high of 1.5624 per cent
Source: Financial Times
