European stocks dive on hawkish Fed minutes, Oil sell-off

By FXStreet The European stock markets extend their downward spiral for the second straight session this Thursday, as risk-off market profile persists amid extended sell-off in the oil prices and surprisingly hawkish minutes of the FOMC April meeting.

Both crude benchmarks lose over 2% amid rising supply worries. While the FOMC minutes showed that a June Fed hike is back on the card, which means withdrawal of cheap money from the markets.

Moreover, the European traders failed to benefit from upbeat UK retail sales data, as falling oil prices weighed heavily on the resource and energy stocks on the region’s index. The UK retail sales data showed a rebound of 1.3% and 4.3% m/m in April. Markets had forecast gains of just 0.7% and 2.5%, respectively.

Meanwhile, Germany’s DAX 30 index drops -1.55% to trade at 9,789, while the UK’s FTSE 100 index slides -1.44% to 6,077. Among the other indices, the French CAC 40 index declines -0.90% to 4,279, while the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index loses -1.13% to 2,922.

Attention now remains on the ECB monetary policy accounts due later this session for further momentum on the markets.
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Source:: FX Street