European Stocks Down Firmly In Negative Territory On Recession Fears

(RTTNews) - European stocks are down in negative territory a little past noon on Friday amid rising concerns about a recession in the U.S. and several other major economies due to rising interest rates.

The World Bank's latest report is weighing as well. The World Bank has warned that the world could face a recession next year amid simultaneous tightening of monetary policy by central banks.

World Bank economists warned that the actions may not be enough to bring high prices under control, leading to a need for more interest rate hikes, which in turn will put the brakes on growth.

The World Bank called for boosting production and removing supply bottlenecks to ease inflation.

Several indicators of global recessions are already "flashing signs", the report said. The global economy is now in its steepest slowdown following a post-recession recovery since 1970, it added.

Investors are also digesting the latest batch of economic data from the continent.

The pan European Stoxx 600 is declining 1.03%, Germany's DAX is down 1.67% and France's CAC 40 is down 1.3%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 is bucking the trend and gaining marginally. Switzerland's SMI is lower by about 0.4%.

In the UK market, AstraZeneca, Polymetal International, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Barratt Developments, SSE, M&G, Hargreaves Lansdown, Hiscox, British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands are up 1 to 2.5%.

Royal Mail is plunging nearly 10% due to heavy selling at the counter, probably due to a profit warning issued by US parcels delivery firm FedEx.

Intercontinental, Land Securities, Just Eat Takeaway.com, EasyJet, Frenillo, Glencore, TUI and Melrose Industries are down 2 to 4%.

In the German market, Deutsche Post is down more than 5%. MTU Aero Engines, Sartorius, Continental, Brenntag, Siemens Healthineers, Daimler, Meck, Deutsche Bank, BASF, Volkswagen, Infineon Technologies, HelloFresh, Adidas and Siemens are down 1.4 to 4%.

In Paris, Air France-KLM, Valeo, Faurecia, CapGemini, Atos, Airbus Group, WorldLine, Safran, Credit Agricole, Hermes International and Societe Generale are sliding 2 to 4.3%.

On the economic front, Eurozone inflation hit a record high in August, as initially estimated, final data from Eurostat showed. Inflation advanced to 9.1% from 8.9% in July. The rate came in line with the estimate published on August 31.

Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, advanced to 4.3% in August, as estimated, from 4% in July.

UK retail sales declined more than expected in August on widespread decreases across food, non-food and fuel retailing, official data showed.

The retail sales volume declined 1.6% month-on-month, in contrast to July's 0.4% increase, the Office for National Statistics reported. Economists had forecast a moderate 0.5% decline.

Likewise, retail sales excluding auto fuel were also down 1.6% after rising 0.4 percent in July. Sales were expected to ease 0.7%.