Fear of a sharp rise in interest rates in the United States and a recession rocked global markets on Monday, following the release of higher-than-expected US inflation figures on Friday.
European stocks opened mostly in the red and at 08:25 GMT, the Paris stock market lost 2.38%, that of Frankfurt 2.05%, Milan 2.14% and the reference index Eurostoxx 50 2.40%.
London also fell 1.55% after the publication of a 0.3% drop in British Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in April for the second consecutive month.
US inflation reached a new high in May, at 8.6% year-on-year, well above analysts’ expectations. The increase in consumer prices accelerated again last month.
In context: US inflation rises to 8.6% annually in May, a maximum in 40 years
These figures caused a sharp fall in the New York stock market on Friday, 2.73% for the Dow Jones and 3.52% for the Nasdaq.
Asia followed the movement. The Tokyo stock market closed sharply down 3.01% and the yen fell to its lowest level against the dollar, which was trading at its lowest point since 1998.
Shanghai lost 0.89% and Hong Kong fell 3.07% in the last operations.
The Monetary Committee of the Central Bank of the United States (Fed) will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday, and markets already expect a 50 basis point adjustment of key interest rates, after a similar rise last month.
But faced with the rise in prices, more and more analysts are wondering if the Central Bank will not further tighten the nut by firing a interest rate hike of 75 points, an extremely rare step in recent Fed history.
Also read: Dollar closes the week above $3,900
Bitcoin
Bitcoin fell this Monday below $25,000, its lowest level in 18 months, because investors shunned risky assets in the face of falling world markets.
The most popular cryptocurrency in the world plunged about 10 percent to $24,692 in London morning trading, reaching a level last seen in December 2020.
