European stocks fall ahead of Powell testimony

March 7 (Reuters) – European stocks opened slightly lower on Tuesday, with tech stocks falling the most ahead of testimony from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, while luxury stocks lost ground after weakness data on the Chinese economy.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1% at 08:16 GMT, with the index of the particularly interest-rate sensitive technology sector losing 0.8%.

Powell’s testimony before Congress, which is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. GMT (10:00 a.m. EST), is eagerly awaited for the Fed’s next interest rate decision.

Trade data from China showed a drop in both exports and imports over the January-February period and underscored continued weakness in demand for the country’s goods. China-exposed luxury giant LVMH lost 0.8%, the largest stock in the benchmark STOXX 600 index.

By contrast, Europe’s largest online fashion retailer, Zalando, pulled back, up 4.8%.

The company offered a cautious outlook for 2023, but said it would continue to focus on improving profitability this year, including cutting several hundred jobs across several of its teams, as it announced. last month.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Editing in Spanish by Tomás Cobos)