19.02.202616:52:35UTC+00European Stocks Pull Back from Records

European stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday, pulling back from the record highs reached in the previous session, as disappointing corporate earnings and expectations of prolonged higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve weighed on sentiment. The Eurozone’s STOXX 50 declined 0.8% to 6,054, while the pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.6% to 624.

Minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting showed that a majority of policymakers view inflation as likely to take longer than previously anticipated to return to target. A few members even left the door open to further rate hikes if inflation fails to ease sufficiently. This more hawkish outlook pressured banking shares, which had rallied strongly earlier in the month, with UniCredit, Santander, and BBVA all losing more than 2%.

In the industrial sector, Airbus dropped 7% after the company missed this year’s aircraft delivery targets. Meanwhile, shares of Enel fell nearly 4% after the Italian government raised corporate taxes on power utilities.