(Reuters) – European stocks fell slightly, with investors avoiding big bets awaiting the ECB’s monetary policy decision and President Christine Lagarde’s remarks on the prospects of reducing interest rates.
At around 11.45am, the pan-European lost 0.3%. The telecommunications sector leads the sectoral declines, weighed down by a 5.5% decline in Deutsche Telekom following the ex-dividend.
The market awaits the ECB’s decision, expected at 2.30pm, in which the central bank is likely to keep interest rates unchanged, and will focus on any hint of the possibility of a cut in June, given the easing of price pressures and economic weakness.
Rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate and banking lost 0.6% and 1.1% respectively.
Societe Generale climbs the French blue-chip index with a rise of 2.1% after the lender said it had agreed to sell a professional equipment financing business to competitor Bpce for 1.1 billion EUR.
Limiting the declines, the oil and gas sector gained 1.3%, following the rise in prices of .
Idorsia postponed the publication of its 2023 and first quarter results, causing the stock to fall 18.1%.
Astrazeneca rose 1.5%, one of the biggest gainers on the British index, after saying it would raise its annual dividend by 7% for 2024.
Volvo drops 3.2% after broker Citigroup downgraded the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’.
(Translated by Camilla Borri, editing Claudia Cristoferi)