Markets

Global Markets Update: European stocks down after Lane dampens hopes of rapid rate cuts

Markets react to beginning of World Economic Forum and Taiwan presidential election

Philip Lane, chief economist at the European Central Bank, has said that easing policy too early would be “self-defeating”. Picture: Fergal Phillips

European stocks fell along with bonds as traders weighed the outlook for monetary policy ahead of a raft of speeches by policy makers at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.3 per cent, with banks and carmakers leading the decline after data showed Germany’s economy contracted for the first time since the pandemic last year. Germany’s 10-year yield rose about four basis points.

Among individual stock moves, ...