Another session with a slight pullback and stagnation was recorded yesterday in the European stock markets, as investors are eyeing the decisions of the largest central banks, which are going during the week and expect further interest rate hikes. The US Federal Reserve is expected to raise dollar interest rates by 25 basis points today, while the ECB and Bank of England are expected to raise 50 basis points tomorrow.

Thus, the pan-European Eurostoxx 600 index closed with a slight loss of 0.21%, although for the whole of January it accumulated a profit of 6.7%, as the market was dominated by optimism regarding the increase in future profits of companies, as well as regarding the extension of soft winter and the increased resilience of the European economy. After all, it is assumed that in the fourth quarter of 2022, the profit of companies in the index will grow by 7.3%.

Investor interest is focused on the meetings of the Fed, the ECB and the Bank of England, where interest rates will be raised again.

Commenting on this, Steve Sosnick, an analyst at Interactive Brokers, stressed that “Europe has been lucky so far in the sense that this winter has been mild, and thus the worst fears about energy prices have dissipated.” As for the ECB, an increase in interest rates is considered almost inevitable, but there is uncertainty about what the Eurozone Bank will decide next. As for the published economic data, which shows that the eurozone has avoided the danger of a recession, it does not seem to have calmed the market. The figures show that the eurozone experienced modest growth in the last quarter of last year, but the overall European economy remains weak. In addition, retail sales in Germany unexpectedly fell in December. Thus, the London FTSE 100 index closed with a slight loss of 0.17%, while the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt and the CAC 40 in Paris closed with minor changes of 0.01% and 0.0058%, respectively. Milan’s FTSE MIB turned against the trend, closing up 1%.