Europe Markets: European stocks stumble as Ifo index drops for sixth month

December 17, 2021

European stocks soured on Friday, continuing to recede from highs despite positive broker backing from firms including Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley.

The Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP,
-1.02%
dropped 1% in afternoon trade, and the index is now down over 3% from record highs set in November.

The European backdrop has been difficult with new coronavirus-related restrictions, notably in eurozone stalwart Germany. The Ifo business climate index, released Friday, showed sentiment in Germany falling for the sixth consecutive month, to a worse-than-forecast reading of 94.7.

“Our hopes that easing supply constraints in manufacturing and receding corona cases would be enough to stabilise confidence were dashed,” said economists at Citi.

The German DAX
DAX,
-1.10%
fell 1.2%. The French CAC 40
PX1,
-1.36%
also lost ground while the FTSE 100
UKX,
-0.02%
was steady.

DiaSorin
DIA,
-11.56%
shares fell 12% as the Italian diagnostics firm forecast a 60% drop in COVID-19 revenue next year.

Futurist Eric Fry says it will be a “Summer of Surge” for these three stocks

One company to replace Amazon… another to rival Tesla… and a third to upset Nvidia. These little-known stocks are poised to overtake the three reigning tech darlings in a move that could completely reorder the top dogs of the stock market. Eric Fry gives away names, tickers and full analysis in this first-ever free broadcast.

Watch now…