Peter Nurse 

Investing.com – European stock markets traded sharply lower Thursday, extending the global selloff after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting pointed to early interest rate hikes amid inflation concerns. 

At 3:40 AM ET (0840 GMT), the in Germany traded 1.5% lower, the in France dropped 1.7% and the U.K.’s fell 1%. 

European indexes followed the Asian counterparts’ lead in the wake of Wall Street’s sharp selloff late Wednesday. The tech-heavy fell more than 3 percent, its largest percentage decline since February. Also, the broad-based index fell nearly 2% in its largest daily percentage drop since November.

The Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes were published. In them, policymakers stated that a tight job market and high inflation could require the central bank raise interest rates earlier than they had previously advised. Many policymakers demanded the Fed start to unwind its large bond purchases. This would further increase pressure on long-term rates.

Adding to Thursday’s woes, France reported a new record of Covid-19 cases, around a third of a million daily cases, while the likes of Portugal, Turkey, Italy and the Netherlands also registered record rises. Italy is imposing a mandatory vaccination for anyone over 50.

The good news was that November saw a 3.7% increase in month-on month sales, driven by an increased demand from overseas. This follows a 5.8% decline in previous months. 

Corporate news: Sodexo (PA) stock dropped 1.3% despite French caterer and food service group reporting an 17% increase in organic sales for the first quarter. This was helped by the opening of schools and universities.

Next The stock of LON fell 2.3% after British retailer, British Clothing Store raised its full year profit outlook for the 5th time in 10 month on the back strong sales during the Christmas period.

Greggs Stock fell 2.2% in London (LON) after the British bakery chain said that there was continued disruption in supply and staffing in quarters and stated that conditions for the next few months in 2022 are likely to be challenging. 

Oil prices fell Thursday after U.S. gasoline stockpiles surged last week, implying weakening demand at the world’s largest energy consumer.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, inventories declined by slightly more than 2,000,000 barrels during the week that ended December 31, which was less than anticipated, but increased more than 10 Million barrels. This is the highest weekly gain since April 2020.

With nearly 1,000,000 Covid-19 reports from the United States on Monday (a new global record), the rise in gasoline stocks suggests that consumers are reluctant to travel.

U.S. crude oil futures were 0.5% less at $77.47 per barrel by 3:40 am ET. The contract was 0.4% lower at $80.48 After a number of high-ranking producers raised output on Wednesday, both contracts rose to the highest level since November. This suggests that there is more confidence than demand for the first quarter.

Also, the price of gold fell 1.5% at $1,798.40/oz while it traded 0.1% lower, at 1.1300.