European markets opened lower on Monday, which will be the region’s last full trading day of the year.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell about 0.4% shortly after the opening bell, with all sectors and major exchanges falling. Industrial, media and technology stocks led the decline.
European trading is expected to be thin on Monday as markets prepare for the New Year holiday.
exist quick estimate Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) announced on Monday that the European Union’s unified annual inflation rate rose to 2.8% in December, up from 2.4% in November.
The figure was higher than the 2.6% forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.
INE estimates that Spain’s core inflation (excluding fresh food and energy prices) rose by 2.6% annually.
Robert Holzmann, a member of the ECB’s Governing Council, told Austrian newspaper Courier over the weekend that the institution may slow down the pace of interest rate cuts due to sticky inflation.
“I don’t see any rate hikes right now,” he said. “What may happen, though, is that it takes more time until the next rate cut.”
His remarks came as Italian lawmakers Government’s 2025 budget adoptedaiming to bring the country’s fiscal deficit closer to 3% to comply with EU rules.
In an interview published Saturday, France’s newly appointed Finance Minister Eric Lombard told news outlets sunday tribune According to Reuters, the country’s upcoming 2025 budget bill targets a deficit of just over 5%.
Asian stocks were mixed overnight as investors focused on political unrest in South Korea and industrial data from the country. Japan also released economic data earlier this week, showing a slowdown in the contraction of factory activity this month.
The Jeju Air crash occurred the day before, killing 179 people. Korean Air’s stock price fell on Monday, and Jeju Air’s stock price hit a record low.
— CNBC’s Lee Ying Shan and Reuters contributed to this summary of European markets.
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