Moscow. 22 July. INTERFAX.RU – 16 analysts polled by Bloomberg are lowering their forecasts for the European stock market at the end of 2022 against the backdrop of the energy crisis in the region, as well as the tightening of the monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the growing likelihood of a recession.

The average forecast suggests a drop in the composite index of the largest European companies Stoxx Europe 600 this year by 9.1%, to 444 points. If the forecast comes true, the index dynamics this year will be the worst since 2018.

The most pessimistic forecasts belong to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS Group AG, they suggest the sharpest decline in the European stock market since 2008, when the composite index lost 46%.

The average forecast of experts for the end of this year is still higher than the current value of the index, which at 18:30 Moscow time is 426.52 points. In June, forecasts for the European stock market were much more optimistic, but with the spread of the gas crisis in the eurozone, expectations that the region’s economy will accelerate in the second half of the year have seriously weakened.