European bourses tracked moderately lower midday Friday as traders weighed hawkish comments made Thursday by US Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell, with market participants backing away from technology stocks. Bank and oil stocks were among the top gainers, whereas technology shares lagged behind. Investors turned their attention to Wall Street futures, which were signaling declines, coupled with uneven closures overnight on Asian exchanges.
The European Commission's Autumn 2024 Economic Forecast projects that the euro area economy will expand by 1.3% in 2025, with the broader European Union expected to grow by 1.5%. For 2024, growth forecasts are set at 0.8% for the euro area and 0.9% for the EU. The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 Index experienced a drop of 0.3% mid-session, while the technology segment faced a more substantial decline of 1.4%.
Conversely, the Stoxx 600 Banks Index rose by 0.7%, and the Stoxx Europe 600 Oil and Gas Index was up by 0.8%. However, the Stoxx 600 Europe Food and Beverage Index recorded a minor decline of 0.2%. In the European REIT sector, the REITE index saw a modest increase of 0.3%, while retail stocks edged higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Retail Index gaining 0.4%.
Examining national market indexes, Germany's DAX was down 0.1%, while London's FTSE 100 saw a slight increase of 0.1%. The CAC 40 in Paris was also down by 0.1%, in contrast to Spain's IBEX 35, which rose by 1.1%. On the bond market, yields on benchmark 10-year German bonds were higher, approaching 2.35%.
Meanwhile, front-month North Sea Brent crude-oil futures declined by 0.5%, settling at $72.18 per barrel. Notably, the Euro Stoxx 50 volatility index increased by 0.3% to 17.15, indicating below-average volatility for European stock markets over the next 30 days—an optimistic sign. A reading above 20 suggests choppier markets ahead, whereas below 20 signifies calmer exchanges..