European markets live updates: stocks, news, BOE decision

European markets fell sharply on Thursday, following their global counterparts lower after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled yesterday that fewer rates cuts are on the horizon.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down around 1.16% at 9:36 a.m. London time, with all sectors trading in negative territory.

Major regional bourses also lost ground, with the German DAX, the French CAC 40 and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 all pulling back.

The anticipated lower open for Europe comes follows a Wednesday sell-off on Wall Street after the Fed, which cut its overnight borrowing rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%, signalled there will likely only be two rate cuts in 2025, rather than the four cuts indicated in its previous forecast.

“We moved pretty quickly to get to here, and I think going forward obviously we’re moving slower,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at the post-meeting press conference.

The comments prompted panic on Wall Street, with U.S. stocks plunging as bull market sentiment was dealt a blow. Overnight, Asia-Pacific markets and currencies also fell.

Further central bank decisions were reached on Thursday, with the Swedish Riksbank announcing a 25-basis-point rate cut. Norway’s central bank meanwhile left its own policy rate unchanged, but suggested it could begin reducing rates in March of 2025.

The Bank of England is also due to deliberate its next monetary policy steps later in the day.

— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this market report