FTSE down 0.48%; DAX down 0.50%; CAC 40 down 0.48% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 07 Jun - European shares closed lower after data from the US showed that the labor market in the world's largest economy is proving to be more resilient than initially thought.

The US labor market added 272,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in May, far higher than the 182,000 expected by economists.

The data dashed hopes the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates soon.

Meanwhile, EU-wide elections got underway, with around 400 million people across the region due to vote for members of the European Parliament over the next few days.

The last polls will close on Sunday and provisional results are due later that evening.

Yesterday the European Central Bank cut rates by 25 basis points for the first time since 2019 as widely expected by the markets. The ECB also released new forecasts in which it now sees headline inflation averaging 2.5% in 2024, 2.2% in 2025 and 1.9% in 2026.

Despite the rise in inflation forecasts, investors still believe the ECB is likely to cut interest rates in September.

Speaking after the rate cut, ECB president Christine Lagarde emphasized that the bank is now more confident that inflation is falling toward 2% in the medium term.

The London FTSE 100 closed down 0.48% at 8,245.37 points, the Frankfurt DAX fell 0.50% at 18,552.45 points, the Paris CAC 40 dropped 0.48% at 8,001.80 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB lost 0.50 at 34,660.38 points, and in Madrid the IBEX 35 closed 0.38% lower at 11,400.50 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 07-06-24 18:04:49 (0535) 5 NNNN