Europe’s main stock markets slid at the open on Thursday, as a fresh spike in US inflation reinforced expectations of more aggressive Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.
In initial deals, London’s FTSE 100 index lost 0.3 percent to 7,138.54 points compared with the closing level on Wednesday.
In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX index slid 0.2 percent to 12,733.34 points and the Paris CAC 40 shed 0.4 percent to 5,977.05.
The euro languished just above dollar parity, one day after breaching the key level of a eurozone energy crisis and the European Central Bank’s policy of slower rate hikes than elsewhere.
The US consumer price index hit a blistering 9.1 percent in June, the highest since November 1981, as energy costs continued to rocket on the back of rising demand and weak supplies partly caused by the Ukraine war.
“After the eye-popping US inflation reading, which blew past all expectations, everything is in play for the Fed,” said AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam.
“Traders have been expecting for a while now that they will get to see a peak in the US inflation data but it seems like there is still a bit more pain left.”