European stocks closed broadly lower on Thursday, weighed down by concerns about Trump administration's trade policy, and uncertainty about the outlook for Federal Reserve's interest rates. Investors digested regional data, and the latest batch of economic data from the U.S.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down by about 0.7%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down by 0.39%, Germany's DAX settled lower by 0.56% and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.41%. Switzerland's SMI closed 0.86% down.
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Market Analysis
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.