European stocks fell after China added data growth woes

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) – European stock markets opened lower on Monday on fears of a slowdown in growth as oil prices plummeted during the Asian session and China’s unexpectedly weaker economic data.

China’s April retail sales fell 11.1% year-on-year, almost double the forecast for the fall, as partial COVID-19 locks were imposed on dozens of cities. Industrial production fell 2.9% as analysts expected a slight increase. read more

Investors are worried that rising interest rates will hurt inflation. These fears led global stocks to hit an 18-month low last week.

At 0732 GMT, the MSCI Global Equity Index (.MIWD00000PUS)Tracking stocks in 50 countries was similar on the day, but still higher than last week’s low.

Europe’s STOXX 600 0.5% lower (.STOXX) London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4% (.FTSE).

“This week’s events calendar is relatively quiet, so markets are always at the mercy of headlines related to the global growth outlook,” ING Ratio strategists wrote in a note to customers.

“Despite the already dark sense of risk, investors have shown that their focus is more on the risk of recession.”

Germany’s 10-year earnings rose 3 basis points to about 0.974% – the lowest level in European government securities since the eight-year high of 1.19% last Monday.

ECB policy analyst Pablo Hernandez de Gauss said on Saturday that the European Central Bank would decide at its next meeting to end its stimulus package in July and raise interest rates “very soon”. read more

Safe shelters

ING analysts say economic growth concerns will allow government bonds to act as a safe haven.

“It will take a lot of confidence to test the 10Y Treasuries and Bund 3% and 1% upside down in our view,” they said.

At 0741 GMT, the US 10 year yield was 2.9221%.

The dollar index, which hit a 20-year high of 105.01 last week, was down 0.1% at 104.47. Dangerous currencies such as the Australian dollar and the British pound fell.

It was the lowest after Euro 2017. ECB policy analyst Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the euro’s weakness could threaten central bank efforts to push inflation toward its target. read more

UK labor market data is due on Tuesday and UK inflation data will be released on Wednesday.

Sky-high inflation and rising interest rates plunged U.S. consumer confidence to an 11-year low in early May and boosted retail sales on Tuesday. read more

Oil prices fell as investors made gains from the recovery of the previous session. read more

Brent crude futures fell 1.2% to $ 110.26 a barrel at 0755 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell 0.8% to $ 109.59 a barrel.

Bitcoin traded at about $ 29,532. Last week it fell to $ 25,401.05 – the lowest level since December 2020. Already plagued by risk appetite, cryptocurrencies were sold last week when the popular Staplecoin TerraUST plummeted and lost its dollar value.

Report by Elizabeth Howcraft, ed by Ed Osmond

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