European stocks are higher today (June 20) following volatile trading last week.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.5% after an uneven start, with bank and financial
stocks gaining 1.8%.
The positive start to the week comes after turbulent trading in recent days following numerous
central bank actions.
The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points, its largest hike
since 1994, before the Swiss National Bank surprised markets with its first rate hike since 2007
and the Bank of England implemented its fifth rate increase in a row.
Following an emergency meeting last week, the European Central Bank signalled that it plans to
raise interest rates for the first time in 11 years at its next policy meeting in July.
French markets moved higher but lagged other major European indexes after President
Emmanuel Macron lost his majority in that country’s parliamentary election, putting his
economic agenda in jeopardy.
In the U.S., all the major stock indexes ended last week in the red, with the S&P 500 posting its
worst week since 2020. Markets in the U.S. are closed today for a holiday.
Stocks in Asia-Pacific are mostly lower in trading as investors monitor market reaction to the
release of China’s latest benchmark lending rates.
