According to Bloomberg News, the European stocks plunged to the lowest in one year as indicated by DAX and Euro Stoxx 50 indexes closing trade in a bearish market as skyrocketing oil prices triggered the concern that high inflation would adversely affect impact the growth of the economy.
The bearish stock market
The DAX closed at 2% down, which is the lowest level since November 2020, calculating the total drops since the January record high recording at 21%. The Stoxx 50 ended at 1.2% lower, which also closed trading in a bear market.
The Monday session for France’s CAC 40 began more than 20% lower than the January high. However, registered decline when Russian and Ukrainian officials were preparing to meet for a third time again for a round of talks. It was found that the last time the three European indexes entered a bear market together was in March 2020, at the peak of a pandemic slump.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index plunged 1.1% to its lowest in one year, as investors are grappling with oil at $120 per barrel following the statement made by the US that it was thinking of a ban on imports of Russian crude.
The energy stocks increased today, reaching a point last seen in November 2020, whereas automakers, food and beverage, and bank stocks did not perform well. Bloomberg News reports that the Stoxx 600 has been down by about 16% from the record high of January.
On Monday, the UBS Global Wealth Management cut euro area equities globally to neutral from the asset class that is most preferred, citing instances of escalating uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine, commodity price, central bank policy, global growth, and probable sanctions on Russia in future.
In the United States, expectations on returns from the S&P500 index are waning. Strategists at Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley have stated that it seems a perfect storm surrounding the equities is building up. The Citi strategists have also noted that a gauge tracking analyst estimates on profits from corporates globally have been negative since September 2020 for the first time.
Yet, some strategists state that the attractive valuations have resulted from the selloffs that took place recently. The Stoxx 600 is currently trading at 12.7 times the earnings estimate, the steepest discount since 2005 to the S&P 500 index.
