By Andrea Hargraves 
Europe begins mixed. Analysts point to the worst year since the 2008 financial crisis
Europe started the session in a mixed fashion, as investors prepare for the upcoming US Federal Reserve meeting, scheduled for next week, after the European Central Bank on Thursday raised interest rates for Governing Council members at 50 basis points.
The European benchmark par excellence, the Stoxx 600, is trading on the waterline (-0.03%) to 424.27 points. Among the 20 sectors that make up the index, the energy leadership accounts for the gains, along with the price of oil adding up to more than 1% in the international market. The chemical sector is driving the losses.
The Stoxx 600 managed to recover this week, although the Italian political crisis and worries about Russian gas supplies reduced risk appetite in the region. Since April, the benchmark index has struggled to post gains in two consecutive weeks, due not only to these factors, but also to the tightening of monetary policy by central banks.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs and UBS point out that European stocks had their worst year since 2008, having already posted their worst quarter in 14 years. In turn, the latest monthly survey of analysts with 16 strategists concluded that the Stoxx 600 could fall by 9% compared to 2021.
In the remaining European markets, Madrid grew 0.18%, London (0.07%) as well as Amsterdam (0.09%) traded on the waterline. Frankfurt fell 40 percent, Paris 0.24 percent and Milan 0.31 percent. Here, Lisbon records the most telling gain among these squares, adding 0.22%.
After meeting the European Central Bank, which raised interest rates in the eurozone for the first time in more than a decade, investors will now be paying attention to “earnings season” for clues about the impact of inflation on European corporate accounts and at the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting.