These hawkish moves dampened investor sentiment as it becomes clear that more actions are needed to tame inflation. In addition, Jerome Powell stated in its testimony that more rate hikes will be necessary.

PMIs missed expectations in France, Germany and the UK, pointing to a slowdown in consumer spending on services. The FTSE 100 fell 0.5% on Friday and 2.4% for the week.

The index was down 0.3% this morning, weighed down by rate-sensitive stocks such as financials.

Lloyds dipped 2% after JP Morgan lowered its recommendation to "underweight" from "neutral".

BAE Systems tumbled 2.9% as the Wagner insurrection raised hopes of an earlier end to the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Aston Martin jumped 11% after the luxury carmaker announced it reached a supply agreement with Lucid Group to make electric vehicles.

 

Things to read today:

‘A huge humiliation’: failed putsch exposes deep flaws in Putin’s regime (Financial Times)

The UK mortgage market may need an overhaul, not handouts (Financial Times)

For Investors, the Russian Gun Hasn’t Fired Yet (Bloomberg)