European markets were lower on Monday, as traders braced up for the final week of central bank action this year and three French media businesses listed in Europe.index dropped 0.58% as investors assessed credit rating agency Moody's surprise Saturday decision to downgrade the country's score to Aa3, from Aa2 previously. The agency said French public finances would be weakened in the coming years by ongoing political instability.
Beyond that, the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting on Dec. 18 stateside is front and center for global markets this week, with the CME Fedwatch tool forecasting a 96% chance of a 25-basis-point cut by the central bank. Traders will be paying close attention to the updated policy statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference for clues about the trajectory for interest rates.
Confidence among U.K. manufacturers fell to its lowest level for a year in the fourth quarter amid intensifying cost pressures, according to aOutput and orders"remain positive" but sentiment"darkened markedly" from the third quarter, a period in which business confidence had jumped because of optimism about the new Labour government, Make UK and BDO found.
"An overlay of a turbulent geo-political landscape and talk of potential tariffs adds to future uncertainty in the short to medium term," said Richard Austin, head of manufacturing at BDO.The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut rates by 0.25 percentage points on Wednesday, but traders will be paying close attention to the updated policy statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference for clues about what comes next.
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