European Stocks Close Sharply Lower On Fed Taper Talk

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday, weighed down by a sell-off in miners and energy companies, and amid uncertainties about Fed's tapering plans after the minutes of the Fed's July meeting showed policymakers were for reducing monthly bond buying later this year.

Continued surge in coronavirus cases of the delta variant also dented sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 1.42%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 1.54%, Germany's DAX slid 1.25% and France's CAC 40 tumbled 2.43%. Switzerland's SMI closed 1.13% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain and Turkey closed with sharp to moderate losses, while Portugal edged down marginally.

In the UK market, Anglo American Plc plunged 10%. Burberry Group, M&G, Phoenix Group Holdings, BP, Antofagasta, Imperial Brands, ITV, Informa, Royal Dutch Shell, Evraz, Glencore and Melrose Industries lost 3 to 6.5%.

Shares of McBride plummeted more than 14%. The manufacturer of private label and contract manufactured products said it now expects fiscal 2022 adjusted profit before tax to be 55- 65% lower than current market consensus for full year 2021.

HSBC Holdings, Rio Tinto, ICP, BHP Group, Standard Chartered, Barclays Group and Prudential also declined sharply.

Just Eat Takeaway.Com, Polymetal International, Bunzl, Smith & Nephew, National Grid, Rentokil Initial and Ocado Group ended with sharp to moderate gains.

In the French market, Kering shares plummeted more than 9%.

Technip plunged more than 7% and ArcelorMittal lost 6.5%. LVMH shed about 5.6%, while Hermes International, Faurecia, Pernod Ricard, Valeo, Societe Generale, Airbus Group, Saint Gobain, Publicis Groupe, BNP Paribas and Renault lost 2.4 to 5%.

In Germany, BASF, Fresenius, Covestro, HeidelbergCement, Deutsche Bank, Thyssenkrupp, Adidas, Siemens and MTU Aero Engines declined sharply.

Volkswagen ended sharply lower after saying it may need to cut production further due to a semiconductor supply crunch. BMW and Daimler also ended notable losses.

In economic news, Switzerland's exports increased in July, data from the Federal Customs Administration showed on Thursday.

Exports rose by a real 0.6% month-on-month in July, after a 3% fall in June. Imports grew 1% monthly in July, after a 2.7% decrease in the previous month.