Stoxx Europe 600 index, which covers about 90% of European free-float shares, will decline by 17% to 406 points by the end of the year. This will be the worst figure since the global financial crisis of 2008, Bloomberg reported citing the forecast of analysts at Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.

Forecasters lowered their targets last month, with the average forecast of 406 points in a Bloomberg survey pointing to a 17% decline in the Stoxx Europe 600 index this year, the worst since the global financial crisis, the report said.

Several factors influenced the dynamics of the decline. Among the key ones - rising inflation in the European Union, as well as tightening monetary policy of central banks of European countries. At the same time the prospects for business in the region will leave much to be desired at the end of 2023, suggested the representative of TFS Derivatives Stephane Ekolo.

Prospects for the European market at the end of the year and, most likely, next year will be poor. Macroeconomic headwinds are not even close to abating, geopolitical tensions continue to rise, and with continued high inflation, Ekolo concluded.