European shares fall for seventh day; focus on U.S. CPI data

(Reuters) – European shares fell on Thursday, dragged by technology and real estate stocks, with investors’ focus being solely on U.S. inflation data due later in the day to get clues on the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike trajectory.

The region-wide index was down 0.6% by 0714 GMT, down for a seventh straight session.

The index has fallen nearly 4.3% in the last six days, with markets worried about central banks’ aggressive policy moves to tackle high inflation and recent warnings from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank about a recession.

Latest data confirmed German harmonised inflation was +10.9% y/y in September, while consumer prices (CPI) in Sweden, measured with a fixed interest rate, rose 1.1% from August.

All eyes are on U.S. CPI data due at 1230 GMT.

Minutes of the Fed’s last meeting showed many officials “emphasized the cost of taking too little action to bring down inflation likely outweighed the cost of taking too much action”.

Technology and real estate were the top losers among the STOXX 600’s sectoral indexes, down 1.1% each.

Aroundtown slid 6.8% after Citigroup (NYSE:) downgraded the real estate group’s stock to “neutral” from “buy”.

European semiconductor companies fell after chip-making technology supplier Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:) said export restrictions to China would result in a $250 million-$550 million loss in net sales in the quarter ending Oct. 30, with a similar impact expected in the following three months.

Shares of Infineon (OTC:), ASML, ASMI, BESI and Aixtron slid between 1.3 and 2.6%.

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