European Shares Edge Lower In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - European stocks traded lower on Friday as escalating U.S.-Iran tensions curbed investors' appetite for riskier assets.

Investors also watched the latest British political developments after early results from nationwide elections suggested a historic drubbing for Prime Minister Keir Starer's Labor Party and sweeping gains for the hard-right Reform U.K. party of Nigel Farage.

In economic releases, German industrial output dropped 0.7 percent in March, marking the second consecutive monthly decline, Destatis reported. The fall confounded economists' forecast of a 0.4 percent increase and followed a 0.5 percent drop in February.

On a yearly basis, industrial production decreased 2.8 percent after posting a 0.2 percent fall.

Elsewhere. U.K. house prices dropped for the second straight month in April as a result of the ongoing war in the Middle East, according to data published by the mortgage lender Halifax.

House prices dropped 0.1 percent on a monthly basis in April but slower than the 0.5 percent decrease in March. Analysts had expected prices to remain flat.

The pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 0.8 percent to 611.70 after falling 1.1 percent on Thursday.

The German DAX fell 0.9 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.7 percent.

German chemicals company Evonik gained 1 percent after Q1 adjusted profit topped expectations.

Lender Commerzbank fell 1.1 percent after announcing massive layoffs amid AI restructuring.

Clariant shares fell 2.1 percent after the Swiss specialty chemicals company reported a lower-than-expected adjusted core profit for the first quarter.

Contract drug manufacturer Lonza declined 1.6 percent despite delivering strong first-quarter performance and confirming its 2026 outlook.

British Airways owner IAG tumbled 3 percent after it warned of lower annual profit.