EUROPEAN STOCKS SLUMP AMID RATE HIKES AND POLITICAL TURMOIL

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS, July 10 (Bernama-dpa-AFX) -- European stocks closed weak on Tuesday, as uncertainty over interest rates and recent political changes in Britain and France led cautious investors to scale back their commitments, reported dpa-AFX news.

A slew of disappointing corporate updates weighed on sentiment. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's statement that the central bank does not plan to reduce interest rates until it is confident that inflation is sustainably moving toward 2 per cent, also weighed.

Traders also awaited comments from European Central Bank board (ECB) member Piero Cipollone for further direction. 

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.9 per cent. The UK's FTSE 100 ended down 0.66 per cent, Germany's DAX dropped 1.28 per cent, France's CAC 40 ended down 1.56 per cent, while Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.12 per cent.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Turkiye ended weak. Poland closed higher, while Greece and Portugal settled flat.

In economic news, UK retail sales declined in June as the cold weather in the first half of the year weighed on consumer spending, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday. 

Appearing before the Senate Banking Committee, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said more good data would strengthen the central bank's confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward its 2 per cent target and lead to a potential interest rate cut.

"The Committee has stated that we do not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range for the federal funds rate until we have gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 per cent," Powell said in prepared remarks.

"Incoming data for the first quarter of this year did not support such greater confidence," he continued. "The most recent inflation readings, however, have shown some modest further progress, and more good data would strengthen our confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 per cent." 

--BERNAMA-dpa-AFX