According to the results of yesterday’s trading European stock markets fell by more than 2% and demonstrated negative dynamics for the fifth consecutive session.

The composite index of the largest companies in the region Stoxx Europe 600 fell by 2.41% and amounted to 412.52 points.

Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 lost 2.4% and 2.7% respectively. British FTSE 100 fell by 1.5%, Italian FTSE MIB collapsed by 2.8%, Spanish IBEX 35 sagged by 2.5%.

Stock quotes of the Dutch operator of food delivery service Just Eat Takeaway.com N.V. collapsed by 16.2% and became the leaders of the fall in the Stoxx 600. Among other companies, securities of which fell in price the most, British competitor of Just Eat – Deliveroo PLC (-15.6%) and German TAG Immobilien AG (-12.5%), working in the real estate sector.

The price of securities of Italian oil service company Saipem S.p.A. fell by almost 15% after the reverse split of shares at the rate of 1 to 10.

Shares of German chemical Brenntag (ETR:BNRGn) SE (+3.2%), Swiss pharmaceutical Vifor Pharma AG (+2.8%) and French Thales S.A. (+2.1%), which produces avionics, were the leaders of growth in the composite index.

Investors are concerned about the prospects of interest rate hikes by global central banks, which they believe could trigger an economic recession. Market attention this week is focused on the next meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the results of which will be published on Wednesday evening.

Traders believe that at the June meeting the Fed may signal a more aggressive pace of rate hikes after the release of data on the US inflation rate, which reached a 40-year high in May. On Monday, the movement in federal funds rate futures indicated that the market is laying a 33% probability of a 75 basis point rate hike this week.

In addition, the attention of the European market was focused on the British statistics. The volume of GDP of Great Britain in April unexpectedly decreased for the second month in a row by 0.3% compared to March, showed the data of the National Statistics Office (ONS) of the country. Analysts expected growth of 0.1%, reports The Wall Street Journal.

In annual terms, the volume of the British economy grew the month before last by 3.4%, the slowest pace since March 2021. The figure was also worse than experts’ expectations of 3.9%.

UK industrial production fell 1% month-on-month in April after a 0.2% decline in the previous month. Analysts on average predicted growth of 0.2%. The sector producing computers, electronics and optical products fell the most – by 4.6%.

In annual terms, the country’s industrial production showed growth of 0.5%, slowing down from 1.9% in March.