European markets opened in negative territory on Monday in what was the region’s last trading session of the year.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell by around 0.4% immediately after the opening bell, with all sectors and major exchanges in negative territory. Industrial, media and technology stocks led the decline.
Trading is expected to slow in Europe on Monday as markets prepare to ease activity ahead of the New Year holidays.
Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) said in preliminary estimates released on Monday that the annual EU-harmonized inflation rate rose to 2.8% in December, up from 2.4% in November.
The figure was higher than the 2.6% expected by analysts polled by Reuters.
Spain’s core inflation rate, which excludes fresh food and energy prices, rose by 2.6% annually, according to INE estimates.
The update comes after European Central Bank Board member Robert Holzmann told Austrian newspaper Krier over the weekend that the European Central Bank may delay its rate-cutting campaign as inflation remains high. It was done.
“Rate hikes are unthinkable at this point,” he said. “But what is likely to happen is that it will take longer before the next rate cut.”
His comments came as Italian lawmakers passed the government’s 2025 budget, which aims to bring the budget deficit closer to 3% to comply with EU rules.
France’s new finance minister, Eric Lombard, said in an interview published on Saturday that the budget deficit in the country’s impending 2025 budget will be just under 5%, according to a Reuters translation. He told the news agency La Tribune Dimanche that he aims to surpass them.
Stocks were mixed in Asian markets overnight as investors monitored political turmoil in South Korea and the country’s industry data. Japan also released economic data earlier in the week, showing that the contraction in factory activity has slowed this month.
Shares of South Korean airlines fell on Monday following the Jeju Air crash that killed 179 people the previous day, with Jeju Air stock hitting an all-time low.
—CNBC’s Lee Ying Shan and Reuters contributed to this European market overview.
