Europe open: Stoxx follows Wall Street into the red

(Sharecast News) - European stockmarkets opened lower on Friday following US and Asian shares into negative territory as the reality of fewer US rate cuts than expected this year started to hit home. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 was down 0.39% at 508.68 in early deals, with all bourses lower.

US stock markets continued their end-of-year decline into 2025, with all three Wall Street benchmarks registering yet more losses and the Nasdaq hitting a five-week low.

The Dow fell for the fourth straight session, slipping 0.4%, while the losing streak on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq entered its fifth day, with both indices losing 0.2%. For the Nasdaq in particular, the tech-heavy benchmark is now trading at its lowest mark (19,280.79) since 29 November.

"Wall Street looks set for a higher open, but it may end up being a replica of yesterday's performance, with early optimism fading. With the US economy showing so much resilience, the hopes for successive interest rate cuts this year have fizzled out, with only two now expected, at the most," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.

"Given the super-stellar year for US stocks in 2024, it's not surprising a bit more caution has crept in amid uncertainty about monetary policy, especially with unpredictable changes from the White House expected."

Oil prices hit two-month highs, with Brent Crude sitting just below $76 a barrel.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com