LONDON — European stocks closed lower Tuesday, bucking the trend across the Atlantic, as investors assessed the economic and political outlook in the region and beyond.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed 0.21% lower, pulling back from larger losses earlier in the session. Mining stocks fell 1.6% as travel gained 0.5%.
In the U.S. the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit new highs Tuesday on hopes of nearing interest rate cuts. The Dow surged by 547 points, or 1.3%, the S&P 500 added 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite was flat.
In Europe, it was a bad day for fashion houses, however, as Germany’s Hugo Boss plunged 7.5% after the company cut its full-year sales outlook, amid “persistent macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges.” The U.K.’s Burberry meanwhile lost 5.2%, a day after issuing a profit warning on weak luxury demand.
Sweden’s Swedbank fell 1.3% after it reported a fall in second-quarter net profits.
Ocado jumped as much as 18.5%, before paring gains to end around 6% higher, after the British online grocer reported a lower first-half loss and raised its full-year guidance.
Global markets are also digesting dovish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell Monday in which he said the central bank will not wait until inflation hits 2% to cut interest rates, as the Fed’s policy works with “long and variable lags.”
So, “if you wait until inflation gets all the way down to 2%, you’ve probably waited too long,” he said Monday.
His comments, combined with expectations that the failed assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will lead to big gains for the party and friendlier fiscal policies from a Trump administration, sent Wall Street higher Monday.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed overnight as traders reacted to Powell’s comments.
