European stocks down after Fed disappoints, Shell falls

  01 August 2019    Read: 1331
European stocks down after Fed disappoints, Shell falls

European shares tracked Wall Street and Asian markets into the red on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve dampened hopes of future cuts in U.S. interest rates, while Shell’s lowest profit in more than two years knocked 4% off the oil major’s value, AzVision.az reported citing Reuters.

The losses were limited, however, by other, more positive results, including from Barclays and Standard Chartered , as well as London Stock Exchange Group’s $27 billion merger with financial information firm Refinitiv.

The exchange operator, in whom Reuters News parent Thomson Reuters will take a 15% stake under the terms of the deal, rose 3.6% in early trade.

By 0708 GMT the pan-European benchmark stock index STOXX 600 <.STOXX> had fallen 0.2%, with energy and mining giants the biggest drag as oil, iron ore and copper prices dipped.

The Fed as expected cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday, but Chair Jerome Powell disappointed investors by saying the move might not be the start of a lengthy campaign to shore up the economy against risks including global weakness.


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