China News Service, July 6. According to the European Times, on July 5, local time, the stock market, oil, euro and pound fell sharply in major European financial markets.

There is a view that due to the soaring natural gas prices, the possibility of a recession in Europe has increased, and investor confidence has been severely hit. "Recession is inevitable."

  The report said that slowing economic growth in the euro zone caused investors to worry.

S&P Global's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which measures business confidence, showed that economic activity in the euro zone's private sector slowed sharply in June to its lowest level since 16.

Markets.com economist Wilson believes that economic growth is slowing rapidly, "although there are some signs that inflation has peaked in April, the manufacturing PMI indicates a recession is inevitable".

 Natural gas prices soar

  The surge in natural gas prices has particularly worried investors.

According to reports, the natural gas price of the Dutch Gas Trading Center (TTF) acts as a reference in Europe, reaching a peak of 176 euros per megawatt hour on the 5th, more than double the level in early June.

Gas prices have risen by nearly 140 percent since the start of the year, and were below 100 euros per megawatt-hour before the Russian-Ukrainian conflict erupted in late February.

  IG France analyst Ballardez commented that this has an impact on the European economy, especially the German economy, due to the sharp drop in German gas imports from Russia.

"The soaring gas and electricity prices have raised the risk of a recession in the EU more than expected," said Skoolski, an analyst at Energy Aspects.

  The report pointed out that Norway in June promised a long-term increase in natural gas supplies to the European Union, but the recent general strike could reduce Norway's natural gas exports by nearly 60%.

  European stocks tumble, euro hits 20-year low

  According to the report, on the 5th, the European stock market opened higher, but then fell one after another.

The New York stock market was also affected and fell one after another.

  Oil prices, on the other hand, are highly influenced by the economic outlook.

The price of Brent crude oil for September delivery fell on the 5th, and the price of light sweet crude oil futures for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange suffered a heavy drop in the intraday session, down more than 9%.

  In addition, the stocks of oil companies such as Shell and Total Energy also fell sharply.

  On the other hand, as Europe suffered an energy crisis and the dollar strengthened as a safe-haven currency, the ratio of the euro against the dollar fell to a new low in nearly 20 years on the day.

GBP/USD also fell.