European markets slide 1% after U.S. sell-off

January 7, 2022: -On Wednesday, European stocks traded lower on Thursday following losses stateside that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching its first decline of 2022.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 1% by mid-morning, which has pared some losses seen at the open.

All sectors, bar banks, and autos were negative territory and the most significant bourses. Tech stocks led the losses down almost 2.5%, amid growing concern about forthcoming U.S. interest rate rises. The future earnings of tech stocks are less attractive to investors when bond yields are higher and vulnerable when rates rise.

European markets followed their Asia-Pacific counterparts lower Thursday, which follows losses in the U.S. in Wednesday’s trading session.

The declines came after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s December meeting showed officials are ready to aggressively dial back the central bank’s pandemic-era easy monetary policy.

The Fed’s plan to reduce the number of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities it holds comes as it is tapering its bond purchases and is set to hike interest rates after the taper concludes.

Major indexes on Wall Street decreased sharply following the release of the minutes, with the S&P 500 coming down 1.94% to 4,700.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 392.54 points to 36,407.11 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 3.34% to 15,100.17. U.S. stock futures were muted in overnight trading on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Data releases in Europe include German industrial orders for November and eurozone producer prices for the same month.