<\/p>\n\n\n\n
European stocks traded lower on Thursday as investors cautiously monitored the escalating conflict in the Middle East, which has now entered its sixth day and continues to fuel uncertainty across global markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 03:02 ET (08:02 GMT), Germany\u2019s DAX<\/strong> fell 0.4%<\/strong>, France\u2019s CAC 40<\/strong> declined 0.4%<\/strong>, and the UK\u2019s FTSE 100<\/strong> slipped 0.1%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The conflict began over the weekend when the United States and Israel launched missile strikes on Iranian targets. Since then, hostilities have intensified and spread beyond the immediate region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Wednesday, a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship near Sri Lanka<\/strong>, while NATO air defenses intercepted and destroyed an Iranian ballistic missile fired toward Turkey<\/strong>, highlighting the widening scope of the confrontation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are few indications that the fighting will end soon. The U.S. Senate rejected a motion aimed at halting the air campaign<\/strong>, a proposal that would have required congressional authorization for further military action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Mojtaba Khamenei<\/strong>, the son of Iran\u2019s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has emerged as a leading candidate to succeed him, according to the White House, suggesting Tehran may not be prepared to ease tensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva<\/strong> warned that the conflict is testing \u201cglobal economic resilience,\u201d<\/strong> as markets grapple with the broader economic consequences of the escalating crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rising energy prices have become a growing concern for European markets. The region is heavily dependent on imported energy, and a prolonged surge in oil and gas prices could push inflation higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such pressures could force the European Central Bank<\/strong> to consider tightening monetary policy further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Francois Villeroy de Galhau<\/strong>, Governor of the Bank of France and an ECB policymaker, said Thursday that he currently sees no reason to raise interest rates<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He noted that the Middle East conflict could lift inflation while simultaneously weakening economic growth, though the overall impact will depend largely on how long the conflict persists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Investors are also awaiting Eurozone retail sales data<\/strong>, due later in the session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Economists expect January retail sales to rise 0.3% month-on-month<\/strong>, representing an annual increase of 1.7%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier Thursday, China set its 2026 economic growth target between 4.5% and 5%<\/strong>, slightly below last year\u2019s 5% expansion and the country\u2019s lowest growth target since 1991, underscoring broader concerns about global economic momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alongside geopolitical developments, investors continued to digest a fresh batch of corporate earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With geopolitical tensions dominating headlines and energy prices climbing, European markets remain cautious as investors weigh the economic consequences of the expanding conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" European stocks traded lower on Thursday as investors cautiously monitored the escalating conflict in the Middle East, which has now entered its sixth day and continues to fuel uncertainty across global markets. By 03:02 ET (08:02 GMT), Germany\u2019s DAX fell 0.4%, France\u2019s CAC 40 declined 0.4%, and the UK\u2019s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1%. Middle East …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":95098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6827,49,37,39,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-forex-markets","category-global-stock-markets","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124407,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124406\/revisions\/124407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Middle East conflict widens<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Energy-driven inflation fears weigh on sentiment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Eurozone retail sales data ahead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Corporate earnings remain in focus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n