European markets lower as global economies drag; CAB Payments debuts in London

Swedish games group Embracer plunged to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 index with a 14% drop in share price after it raised 2 billion Swedish krona ($182 million) in a discounted share issue.

The group, which holds rights to Tomb Raider, said in June that it would need to cut investments and costs. It issued 80,000 new shares at a subscription price of 25 krona per share late Wednesday, according to a press release.

Embracer has had a turbulent few months as the company tackled weak reception of its games and difficulties in securing partnerships.

Shares of Embracer are down more than 49% year to date, according to Refinitiv data.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Here are the top performing, actively managed equity funds in the first half of the year, according to data from Morningstar.

CNBC Pro also highlighted the stocks most commonly in the top holdings of these funds, with potential upsides and buy ratings, according to FactSet.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Federal Reserve officials still have a recession as the most likely base case for the U.S. economy, but there was growing optimism at the last meeting that a true “soft landing” could be achieved.

“Given the continued strength in labor market conditions and the resilience of consumer spending, however, the staff saw the possibility of the economy continuing to grow slowly and avoiding a downturn as almost as likely as the mild-recession baseline,” the minutes said.

— Jesse Pound

The Federal Reserve expects to raise rates further from current levels, albeit at a slower-than-expected pace, a summary from the central bank’s June meeting showed.

“Many [officials] also noted that, after rapidly tightening the stance of monetary policy last year, the Committee had slowed the pace of tightening and that a further moderation in the pace of policy firming was appropriate in order to provide additional time to observe the effects of cumulative tightening and assess their implications for policy,” the minutes said.

— Fred Imbert, Jeff Cox

Investors have become “too complacent” in the calm before a potential storm for stock markets, according to Deutsche Bank’s Maximilian Uleer.

Uleer, head of European equity and cross-asset strategy at the multinational German lender, said the historically low levels of volatility was a key concern since it signaled rising complacency within the market.

The strategist also named two ways investors could “cheaply” insulate themselves from a potential downturn.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

European equity markets are set to open marginally lower, according to IG data.

Britain’s FTSE is anticipated to open six points lower at 7,433, while Germany’s DAX is poised to drop 16 points to 15,908. France’s CAC is forecast to fall 10 points to 7,239 and Italy’s MIB is on track to drop three points to 28,279.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton