Global stock markets slid Tuesday as Wall Street weakness offset positive economic data, while investors looked ahead to key interest rate decisions due this week.
“A sense of nervousness has been creeping into the markets in recent sessions, evident by another bad showing on Wall Street,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“That’s extended to Asian and European stocks on Tuesday, causing a wobble among the main indices.”
Investors absorbed data showing that the eurozone economy grew by a slender 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, confounding expectations of a contraction.
“The surprise growth… makes a technical recession across the eurozone an increasingly unlikely prospect,” noted CEBR economist Karl Thompson.
The International Monetary Fund forecast that Germany and Italy would avoid recessions in 2023.
France also avoided a contraction in the fourth quarter, but French President Emmanuel Macron faced nationwide strikes and protests on Tuesday over his plan to reform pensions.