European markets went down on Tuesday following the release of weak Eurozone manufacturing PMI data. The FTSE 100 lost 0.54%, the CAC 40 declined by 1.99%, and the DAX fell by 2.19%.
Europe's stock index, the STOXX 600, lost 1.3%. The tourism and leisure sector has suffered the biggest losses after the betting company Flutter published a disappointing earnings report.
Weak earnings outlooks have pushed down shares of German online clothing store Zalando and food delivery service HelloFresh by 6.9% and 8.0% respectively. These companies have made significant gains during the pandemic.
European investors were disappointed by the latest Eurozone manufacturing PMI data. According to the finalized data, the index fell to 58.2 points in February, down from 58.7 points in January. Experts polled by DailyFX expected the index to reach 58.4 points.
Germany's final manufacturing PMI fell to 58.4 points, compared to 58.9 in January. In France, the index increased to 57.2 points from January's 55.5 points.
Market players continue to follow the situation in Ukraine. Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which was announced by president Putin on February 24, led to severe sanctions being imposed on Russia by Western European countries. Sanctions were placed on several major Russian banks, such as VTB, Sovkombank, Novikombank, Otkritie Bank, Promsvyazbank, and Rossiya Bank. Furthermore, the EU and the US have imposed sanctions on the Russian central bank, preventing it from using its $630 billion reserve. These sanctions are likely to impact not only the Russian economy, but the global economy as well.
Monday's ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine failed to produce any positive results. The two sides did not set a date for the second round of talks.
Oil prices, which remain highly volatile, have the greatest influence on the global economy. Only the lack of sanctions against the Russian oil production is holding back the oil rally.
Shell has announced it plans to cease operations in Russia, abandoning its major LNG plant in the country. The announcement pushed down the company stock by 1.1%.
Maersk, the world's biggest maritime shipping company, stopped all container deliveries to and from Russia, with the exception of food, medicines and humanitarian goods. Earlier, Hapag Lloyd and MSC suspended deliveries to Russia as well.
Production growth in the EU has slowed down slightly in February, despite high economic activity and greatly reduced supply chain disruptions.
