ECB rate decision, Fed rate decision

The euro ticked higher against the U.S. dollar on news of the European Central Bank raising interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.5%. The currency was up 0.4% to 1.0874 within half an hour of the announcement, after starting the day at 1.0828.

HSBC downgraded U.K. markets to underweight from neutral, according to a note from the British bank.

Its analysts described the U.K. as “a drag” within Europe as its equities are under particular stress compared to other nations.

The FTSE 350 is among the worst-performing indexes in developed markets, HSBC wrote, and it expects earnings to decline by around 2% in 2023.

HSBC listed service sector inflation pressures, sticky core inflation and policy rates being far from their peak as reasons for the downgrade.

France and Spain were also downgraded by the bank (from overweight to underweight and from overweight to neutral respectively), while Switzerland and Sweden were upgraded (from underweight to overweight and from neutral to overweight respectively).

— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

“From my point of view … I think we do need a regulation and all the players, even the U.S. players, agree with that. I think we need a global regulation,” French President Emmanuel Macron told CNBC’s Karen Tso on the sidelines of the VivaTech conference in Paris.

Shares of H&M topped the Stoxx 600 index with a 6.7% uptick, despite weaker-than-expected second-quarter sales.

Net sales were up 6% for the second quarter, compared with the same period of the previous year, which the fashion group attributed to unfavorable weather conditions.

The Swedish company did say that June “has got off to a good start.”

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Siemens will spend 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) on boosting its global growth, the company announced in a press release.

Investment will go toward new high-tech factories, innovation labs and education centers as the German manufacturing corporation aims to become a bigger player in digitalization, automation and sustainability.

Siemens will start with investments in Germany and the United States, and then look to expand its production and research and development capacities across Asia.

Shares of Siemens are up 0.2% after the announcement.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Click here to see a comparison of the June Fed statement with May’s.

— Alex Harring

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite shed earlier gains and turned negative shortly after the central bank indicated that though it was pausing on a June hike, the “dot plot” showed two more increases are coming.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.6%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 400 points, or about 1.2%.

–Darla Mercado

Apple and Meta are banking on virtual reality technology to be the next big thing in consumer electronics, but the jury appears to be still out on which company has the right strategy.

Apple’s recent announcement of its Vision Pro headset, priced at $3,499, has drawn its fair share of criticism, but Andrew Uerkwitz, an equity analyst at Jefferies, does not see the hefty sum as a misstep.

Meanwhile, DA Davidson’s Tom Forte Meta Platforms’ Quest 3 benefiting from the momentum driven by Apple.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

European markets are heading for a negative open as investors prepare for the latest monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 29 points lower at 7,582, Germany’s DAX 36 points lower at 16,281, France’s CAC 26 points lower at 7,305 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 74 points lower at 27,719, according to data from IG.

Earnings are set to come from Halfords; Boohoo; Fuller, Smith & Turner; and H&M. Data releases include French inflation figures for May.

— Holly Ellyatt