The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell slightly in the last trading in April. The positive financial results of the corporate sector were offset by the news of the economic downturn in the euro area, which would be slightly deeper than expected.
Trading in Europe began optimistically on the last day of April. The STOXX 600 index strengthened and was riding a wave of positive news coming from the corporate sector. The results season has started, when companies are announcing their financial data for the first quarter of this year.
However, during the day, investor sentiment reversed as Eurostat published the first estimates of gross domestic product developments in the euro area and the European Union. The economies of both integration units technically entered another recession, falling by 1.8 and 1.7 percent year on year.
Probably the biggest surprise was prepared by the development of the gross domestic product in Germany, which fell by 3 percent year on year. At the same time, the market expected about a half-down. On the contrary, a positive surprise came from France, whose economy grew by 1.5 percent year on year. However, the shares reacted only slightly negatively to this contradictory news, when the STOXX 600 index closed 0.3 percent weaker but added almost two percent for the whole of April.
