European stocks face their worst quarter since the pandemic plunge in early 2020

European shares fell on Thursday, on track to record their worst quarter since the massive plunge during the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, as investors grew increasingly concerned about a global recession following tough central bank measures to tame soaring inflation.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 1.4 percent by 0709 GMT, with the French CAC 40 index down 2 percent, after preliminary official data revealed that inflation rose more than the previous month to a record level of 6.5 percent.

The Stoxx 600 index fell for the second day in a row after the heads of global central banks said that measures to reduce high inflation around the world would be painful and could lead to a collapse in growth.

Sectors related to the economy led the decline in early trading, with the basic resources and autos indices dropping between 1.9 percent and 2.1 percent.

On the individual level, Uniper shares fell 17.5% after the German utility company withdrew its forecast for the 2022 fiscal year due to gas supply restrictions from Russia’s Gazprom.