European Markets Tumble Friday On Rate Hike Concerns

(RTTNews) - The major European stock markets finished firmly lower on Friday, unable to hold early gains and sinking firmly into the red.

The early support came on optimism for U.S. inflation data later in the day, but those hopes were crushed when the report showed that core inflation unexpectedly accelerated.

That higher inflation has added to recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates as the Federal Reserve may now have to move its policy rate higher and for longer. Germany's DAX plunged 265.95 points or 1.72 percent to finish at 15,209.74, while the FTSE in London sank 29.06 points or 0.37 percent to close at 7,878.66 and the CAC 40 in France surrendered 130.16 points or 1.78 percent to end at 7,187.27. In Germany, BASF plummeted 7.86 percent, while Infineon plunged 3.50 percent, Volkswagen tanked 3.11 percent, Daimler Truck Holding tumbled 3.09 percent, Covestro declined 2.54 percent, Deutsche Post retreated 2.28 percent, Linde jumped 1.98 percent, Deutsche Bank slumped 1.52 percent, Deutsche Telekom dropped 1.20 percent, Deutsche Borse advanced 0.89 percent and Siemens Energy fell 0.35 percent. In London, M&G skyrocketed 6.99 percent, while Entain tumbled 3.58 percent, Rolls-Royce surged 2.21 percent, Prudential stumbled 1.82 percent, BAE Systems jumped 1.77 percent, Centrica climbed 1.32 percent, Rightmove slumped 1.31 percent, British American Tobacco advanced 1.02 percent, Tesco dropped 0.84 percent, Haleon sank 0.83 percent, Shell added 0.68 percent, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust gained 0.63 percent and Vodafone rose 0.18 percent. In France, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain surged 4.82 percent, while Worldline plunged 3.85 percent, Schneider Electric tanked 3.53 percent, Carrefour jumped 2.73 percent, Vinci declined 1.95 percent, Societe Generale stumbled 1.57 percent, BNP Paribas dropped 1.39 percent, Credit Agricole skidded 1.08 percent, Orange added 1.00 percent, Engie lost 0.85 percent, Vivendi fell 0.47 percent and Sanofi dipped 0.22 percent.

In economic news, Germany's GDP contraction at the end of 2022 was more severe than estimated, latest data from Destatis showed, indicating that the biggest euro area economy significantly lost momentum and added to fears of a looming recession in the currency bloc. GDP contracted 0.4 percent on quarter, which was more severe than the 0.2 percent estimate. In Q3, the economy had expanded 0.5 percent.

UK consumer sentiment improved in February from historic lows in the previous months to its highest level since April last year, as households were more optimistic about their personal finances and the future economic situation, results from GfK showed on Friday. The consumer confidence index rose to -38 in February from -45 in January.

France's consumer confidence dropped slightly in February, reflecting moderate weakness in households' assessment about financial situation, the statistical office INSEE said on Friday. The consumer confidence index fell to 82 in February from revised 83 in January. The score was forecast to fall to 80.