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European markets close lower amid flurry of central bank decisions; Ocado shares fall 20%

Hannah Ward-Glenton
Holly Ellyatt

This is CNBC's live blog covering European markets.

European markets closed lower amid a raft of interest rate decisions from central banks in England, Turkey, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended down 1.3%, with major bourses and almost all sectors in negative territory. Travel and leisure stocks saw the biggest drop, down by 3.2%, followed by mining stocks, which shed 2.6%.

European markets


The Bank of England paused its hiking cycle, keeping the policy rate at 5.25%, after cooler-than-expected inflation data. The Swedish and Norwegian central banks both opted to hike interest rates, while the Swiss National Bank paused its hiking cycle.

Global markets have also been reacting to the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest decision to hold interest rates steady. The move was widely expected but the central bank said it still expects one more hike before the end of the year and fewer cuts than previously indicated next year.

Along with the rate projections, the Fed also sharply raised its economic growth expectations for this year, with U.S. gross domestic product now expected to rise 2.1% this year.

Asia-Pacific markets fell across the region overnight. U.S. stocks fell Thursday on worries that another Federal Reserve rate hike could come before year-end.

Europe markets close lower

European stock markets closed lower on Thursday, with major bourses and almost all sectors ending the trading session in negative territory.

It comes after a flurry of interest rate decisions from central banks, with the Bank of England and Swiss National Bank pausing their respective hiking cycles and the Swedish and Norwegian central banks opting to raise interest rates.

— Sam Meredith

Turkey’s central bank hikes interest rate to 30%

Turkey's central bank hiked its key interest rate to 30% on Thursday, a 500-basis point jump from 25%, as Ankara continues to battle double-digit inflation.

The Turkish lira weakened slightly to 27.06 against the dollar on the news, with the greenback up 0.3% against the local currency at 2:05 p.m. in Istanbul.

You can read the full story here.

—Natasha Turak

Sterling drops after Bank of England pauses rate hikes

The Bank of England on Thursday ended a run of 14 straight interest rate hikes after new data showed inflation is now running below expectations.

The Bank had been hiking rates consistently since December 2021 in a bid to rein in inflation, taking its main policy rate from 0.1% to a 15-year high of 5.25% in August.

The British pound dropped 0.7% against the U.S. dollar shortly after the decision.

— Elliot Smith

Norway's central bank raises rates to 4.25% with December hike 'likely'

Norway's central bank opted to hike its policy rate to 4.25%, as forecast by analysts, up from 4% in the face of sticky inflation.

Norges Bank is also likely to increase rates again at the next meeting, the bank's governor said.

"Whether additional tightening will be needed depends on economic developments. There will likely be one additional policy rate hike, most probably in December," Ida Wolden Bache said in a press release.

The bank has revised its policy rate forecast since June, and now indicates the rate will be around 4.5% throughout 2024.

"There will likely be a need to maintain a tight stance for some time ahead," Bache said. 

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Stocks on the move: JD Sports up 7%, Ocado down 8%

Shares of Ocado fell 8% after Exane downgraded the online supermarket to "underperform" from neutral. The capital market company cited concerns over subdued growth in Ocado's retail business after its recent rally.

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Ocado share price.

JD Sports shares were up 7% after the activewear retailer said it was on track to meet annual profit forecasts. The company said demand for Air Force 1, Adidas Gazelle and Samba footwear pushed up first-half sales.

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JD Sports share price.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Swiss National Bank holds rates unchanged, ending hike streak

The Swiss National Bank ended its streak of five consecutive increases, keeping interest rates unchanged at its quarterly monetary policy meeting on Thursday.

The bank, which began lifting rates out of negative territory in June 2022, held its main policy rate steady at 1.75%.

"The significant tightening of monetary policy over recent quarters is countering remaining inflationary pressure," the SNB said in a statement.

— Elliot Smith

Sweden’s central bank raises rates to 4%, in line with expectations

Sweden's central bank hiked interest rates for the eighth consecutive time on Thursday, taking the main rate to 4%, as the country continues to battle high inflation.

The quarter-point increase is in line with the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters.

The full story can be found here.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

European markets open lower

European markets opened lower ahead of a raft of interest rate decisions from central banks in England, Turkey, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.6% at the start of trading, with all sectors in the red. Mining stocks saw the biggest drop, down 1.6%, while travel and leisure was down 1.2%.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

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CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

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CNBC Pro: Cathie Wood is a fan of this AI company, and says the 'AI revolution' will 'change everything'

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The founder and CEO of Ark Invest said Wednesday added that the "AI revolution is upon us and is going to change everything" despite fears that there will be a repeat of the dotcom bubble bust in the 1990s.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European markets are set to open lower Thursday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 39 points lower at 7,489, Germany's DAX down 67 points at 16,615, France's CAC down 26 points at 7,414 and Italy's FTSE MIB down 159 points at 30,163, according to data from IG. 

Revised third quarter gross domestic product data for the euro zone is due Thursday, as well as third-quarter employment figures for the single currency area. German industrial output for October is also due.

— Holly Ellyatt