Europe close: Most markets down as ECB stands pat on policy
European shares finished primarily in the red on Thursday, as US president Donald Trump stormed off Air Force One and into the Davos talkfest, with the ECB making no changes to its policy after its two-day meeting.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 lost 0.5% to 400.79, while Germany’s DAX fell 0.87% to 13,298.36 and the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.25% to 5,481.21.
In London, the FTSE 100 was off 0.36% at 7,615.84 and the more domestic FTSE 250 lost just 0.08% to 20,521.74, while on the upside, Spain’s IBEX 35 managed to add 0.31% to settle at 10,595.30.
Trump entered the Swiss ski retreat shoulder pads ablaze, as he managed to send tweets about America ‘WINNING’ in between arguments with journalists.
His entourage brought good news for the UK, with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin promising that the UK would be “at the front of the line” for a trade deal with the US after Brexit.
The first sit-down between Trump and prime minister Theresa May also occurred during the day - their first since May condemned the president since he retweeted inaccurate propaganda from the racist Britain First group.
Over at the European Central Bank, the Governing Council made “no meaningful changes” to its policy statement, according researchers at Daiwa Capital Markets.
“So, once again, the policymakers left open the possibility of additional net asset purchases after the current phase ends in September, and also restated that they expect rates to remain at current levels well past the horizon of the net asset purchases,” the said.
“And to reinforce the point - although in our view it's stating the obvious - Draghi said that he saw 'very few chances at all [sic] that interest rates will be raised this year'.”
Draghi did acknowledge that economic growth since the middle of last year had been stronger than expected, but he also noted that domestic price pressures remained muted overall and were yet to show signs of a sustained upward trend.
In corporate news, international baker Aryzta plunged 20.87% after a major cut to its 2018 core profit forecast.
The baker of the Big Mac's top, bottom and bizarre middle buns said European underperformance was forecast to account for 20% of the anticipated shortfall relative to expectations and cited Brexit pressures on its UK business.
It added that the weak performance in its second quarter was not expected to reverse for the remainder of 2018.
London-based merchant bank Close Brothers finished ahead 8.13%, after it reported a rise in its loan book and said it remained well placed for the full 2018 financial year, as it announced the departure of its finance director.
In the an update for the five months to 31 December 2017, the company said its loan book was up 2.6%, while year-on-year it gained 7.3% to £7.1bn, driven by the premium and property finance businesses.