European shares open sharply lower as Fed hints at higher peak rates

(Reuters) – European shares opened sharply lower on Thursday after the Federal Reserve dampened any hopes of a downshift in its aggressive fight against inflation, with the U.S. central bank instead hinting at smaller interest rate increases for longer.

The pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 0.9% by 0810 GMT, with rate-sensitive European technology stocks falling 1.5%.

Most major European sector indexes slid, although banks edged up about 0.1%.

The Fed delivered its fourth straight 75 basis point rate hike on Wednesday, with Chair Jerome Powell flagging that future hikes may come in smaller increments, and said the “ultimate level” of the benchmark policy rate would likely be higher than previously estimated.

European travel & leisure stocks slid 2.1%, with Flutter Entertainment leading the declines after Australia’s financial crime watchdog ordered an audit of Sportsbet, the country’s largest online betting house operated by Flutter.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)