FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Dwindling hopes of interest rate cuts in the near future weighed on the capital-intensive energy sector in particular across Europe on Thursday. While the European utilities sector index fell by around one percent, RWE shares in the Dax continued their recent weakness with a discount of one and a half percent and Eon shares at the end of the index fell by almost two percent.

In the past few days, uncertainty regarding the Federal Reserve's plans in the USA had increasingly unsettled investors: an interest rate cut by the Fed before the end of the first quarter seems increasingly unlikely. The growing realization among investors that interest rates are likely to remain high for some time to come is currently weighing on stocks, which had a strong run before the turn of the year.

After initially strong price gains at Eon shortly after the turn of the year, the plus for 2024 has now melted to around one percent. RWE shares are already down eleven percent in the still young year 2024. The Essen-based energy supplier's share price had come under pressure the previous day in the wake of speculation surrounding the wind farm giant Orsted.

Analysts recently also pointed to the start of the public hearing for the next regulatory period in Germany as a possible burden. UBS expert Wanda Serwinowska, for example, expects a discussion about the permitted returns and the incentive system, as she wrote in a study the day before./tav/ajx/tih