After a fairly good start Friday morning, the major European markets turned weak and ended the day's session with notable losses as oil's climb and concerns that major central banks will soon hike interest rates rendered the mood bearish.
Major central banks, including the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, left their interest rates unchanged but hinted at one or more rate hikes this year to combat inflation.
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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.