Virgin Money's stock surged following an agreement to be acquired by Britain's Nationwide Building Society, while European markets declined on Thursday as investors grew wary of the European Central Bank's interest rate decision.
With the exception of healthcare (.SXDP) and insurance (.SXIP), most sectors traded in the red as of 08:15 GMT, causing the pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) to fall 0.3%.
The greatest loss was the Automobiles and Parts sub-index (.SXAP), which fell 1.1% and is on pace for its largest decrease in seven weeks.
The European Central Bank is likely to maintain interest rates unchanged at record highs in its rate decision, which is scheduled for 1315 GMT. All eyes will be on this announcement. At 13:30 GMT, Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, will address the press conference.
Following news that Nationwide Building Society (NBS.L) has agreed to acquire Virgin Money UK (VMUK.L) in what might be an all-cash deal worth 2.9 billion pounds ($3.69 billion), the stock soared 35.7%, setting a new record for best day on record.
After estimating an operating profit for 2024 that was lower than market projections, the German fashion company Hugo Boss (BOSSn.DE), which opens in a new tab, dropped 17.0% to the bottom of the benchmark index.
This precipitous fall occurred after the company made the prediction. While this was going on, numbers from Halifax, a mortgage provider, suggested that property prices in the United Kingdom increased by 1.7% in the year leading up to February.
This represents a deceleration from the 2.3% growth that was seen in January.
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