The European stock market recorded its third week of decline in four weeks. Previously, the US employment report was better than expected, and traders further increased their bets on the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed basically flat, with a cumulative decline of 0.8% this week, the biggest weekly decline in nearly two months. US employment growth in August exceeded expectations, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged, indicating that the momentum of the labor market was stronger than previously thought. Traders currently expect that the probability that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this month is about 60%, while market pricing on Thursday shows that the probability of raising interest rates is still only five or five. Karen Georges, EcoFi equity fund manager, said, “There is little reason to support the Federal Reserve's dovish stance now. Inflation is rising, and the data clearly shows that the job market is quite resilient.” She said, “The market is currently not paying much attention to macroeconomic data; attention is still focused on good corporate performance in the second quarter, so in this case, good news is good news.” The automotive sector led the way, with Volkswagen leading the way. The German automaker's supervisory board supported a restructuring plan, which included laying off an additional 50,000 employees and boosting Volkswagen's stock price by 6.5%. The tech sector saw the biggest gains, while the media and healthcare sectors lagged the most. European investors tend to be cautious in the face of inflation prospects and the possibility of further increases in interest rates. The market has now almost fully taken into account expectations that the ECB will raise interest rates next week.

The European stock market recorded its third week of decline in four weeks. Previously, the US employment report was better than expected, and traders further increased their bets on the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed basically flat, with a cumulative decline of 0.8% this week, the biggest weekly decline in nearly two months. US employment growth in August exceeded expectations, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged, indicating that the momentum of the labor market was stronger than previously thought. Traders currently expect that the probability that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this month is about 60%, while market pricing on Thursday shows that the probability of raising interest rates is still only five or five. Karen Georges, EcoFi equity fund manager, said, “There is little reason to support the Federal Reserve's dovish stance now. Inflation is rising, and the data clearly shows that the job market is quite resilient.” She said, “The market is currently not paying much attention to macroeconomic data; attention is still focused on good corporate performance in the second quarter, so in this case, good news is good news.” The automotive sector led the way, with Volkswagen leading the way. The German automaker's supervisory board supported a restructuring plan, which included laying off an additional 50,000 employees and boosting Volkswagen's stock price by 6.5%. The tech sector saw the biggest gains, while the media and healthcare sectors lagged the most. European investors tend to be cautious in the face of inflation prospects and the possibility of further increases in interest rates. The market has now almost fully taken into account expectations that the ECB will raise interest rates next week.