EUROPE Stocks trade lower on Thursday

European stock markets declined on Thursday, 19 January 2023, as investors appetite for risk assets dented amid hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials and concerns regarding the European Central Bank's guidance on rates.

At 14:25 GMT, the pan European Stoxx 600 index was down 1.35% to 451.34. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index fell 1.05% to 7,748.67. France's CAC40 index shed 1.6% to 6,970.46. Germany's DAX index fell 1.44% to 14,962.80. Switzerland's Swiss Market index dropped 0.47% to 11,313.33.

Market tracked negative lead from Wall Street on Wednesday and weaker trades on Asian bourses amid rapidly fading hopes of a 'soft-landing' for the global economy after government data showed that the US retail sales and producer prices fell more than expected in the final month of 2022.

Also, weighing sentiments was rising expectations of further aggressive tightening from the world's central banks after Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday, including St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, talked of yet higher interest rates.

There was cautious optimism over the past few days that the ECB would ease its policy around March. However, statements from ECB President Christine Lagarde and Dutch Central Bank Chief Klaas Knot snuff out hope for lower rates anytime soon, with Knot indicating markets may be underestimating the ECB's planned rate hikes.

Oil & gas firm BP Plc fell 2.2% and Shell lost 1.8% as crude prices extended losses on the back of weak U.S. economic data and a surprise build in U.S. crude stocks.

Harbour Energy tumbled 3% as it launched a review of its U.K. operations and cut its 2023 spending plan.

Events-and academic publishing group Informa advanced 1.7% after saying that it expects to report higher revenue and adjusted operating profit for 2022.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Switzerland Producer And Import Prices Rise 3.2% In December- Switzerland's producer and import prices increased in December, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed on Thursday. Producer and import prices rose 3.2% year-on-year in December. The producer price index climbed 2.6% annually in December, and import prices grew 4.4%. Compared to the previous month, producer and import prices declined 0.7% in December. In 2022, the producer and import prices advanced 5.6% from 2.7% in 2021.

Eurozone Construction Output Declines 0.8% In November- Eurozone construction output contracted for the first time in three months in November, as a rise in civil engineering activity was offset by a downturn in the building sector, data from the statistical office Eurostat showed on Wednesday. Construction output fell 0.8% month-over-month in November, reversing a revised 1.0% rise in October.

Building output logged a monthly decline of 0.9%, while civil engineering activity registered a growth of 0.4%. On a yearly basis, the growth in construction output eased to 1.3% in November from 1.9% in the prior month. The rate for August was revised down from 2.2%. Construction output in the EU27 dropped 0.4% monthly in November, while it grew 1.8% from a year ago.

Eurozone Core Inflation Rises 5.2% In December- Raising scope for another aggressive rate hike in February, Eurozone core inflation accelerated in December, as estimated, while overall inflation slowed to a four-month low on energy prices, final data from Eurostat revealed. Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, advanced to 5.2% from 5.0% in November. Meanwhile, overall consumer price inflation slowed to 9.2% in December, as estimated, from 10.1 in November. A year earlier, inflation was 5.0%. On a monthly basis, the harmonized index of consumer prices dropped 0.4% in December.

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