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.
Over the weekend, ECB Governing Council member Robert Holzmann told Austrian newspaper Courier The agency may slow down 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 close 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%.
In terms of economic data, Spain will release the latest inflation data on Monday, and Türkiye will update its economic confidence index.
Overnight in Asia, Individual stocks were mixed As investors focused on political unrest in South Korea as well as the country’s industrial data. Japan also released economic data earlier this week, showing a slowdown in factory activity this month.
Korean Air shares fell on Monday Jeju Air plane crash A day earlier, Jeju Air’s share price hit a record low after 179 people died.
— CNBC’s Lee Ying Shan and Reuters contributed to this summary of European markets.
