European Stocks Close Lower As Growth Worries, Interest Rate Concerns Weigh

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Friday as growth worries and concerns about monetary tightening continued to deter investors from indulging any significant buying, and look to lighten positions instead.

In addition to assessing the likely interest rate-path of central banks, investors also digested the latest batch of economic data from Europe and the U.S.

The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 0.61%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX both dropped 0.65%, and France's CAC 40 ended down 0.38%, while Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.42%.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 posted a weekly loss of about 3.3%. DAX shed about 2% in the week, the CAC 40 dropped 2.4%, and the pan European Stoxx 600 drifted down 1.5%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak.

Czech Republic, Ireland and Russia ended higher, while Iceland and Portugal settled flat.

In the UK market, Airtel Africa ended 4.4% down. RS Group, Antofagasta, Prudential, JD Sports Fashion, ABRDN, Frasers Group, Weir Group and Hiscox ended lower by 2 to 3.5%.

Ashtead Group, Smurfit Kappa Group, Anglo American Plc, Glencore, Hargreaves Lansdown, Burberry Group, Standard Chartered, Melrose Industries, HSBC Holdings, CRH and AstraZeneca lost 1.2 to 2%.

British American Tobacco climbed 1.53%, and Tesco gained 1.3%. WPP and BAE Systems also closed notably higher.

In the German market, Sartorius and Zalando both shed about 3.7%. Puma, Siemens Energy, Porsche, Bayer, Vonovia, Covestro, Hannover Rueck, Fresenius Medical Care, Hannover Rueck, Siemens and Siemens Healthineers lost 1 to 2.6%.

In Paris, Unibail Rodamco dropped more than 2%. ArcelorMittal, Eurofins Scientific, WorldLine, Kering, L'Oreal, AXA and Saint Gobain lost 1 to 1.6%.

Capgemini, Publicis Groupe, Engie, Teleperformance and TotalEnergies closed higher.

In economic news, final data from Eurostat showed eurozone inflation slowed as initially estimated in July to the lowest since early 2022, driven by falling energy prices.

Inflation slowed to 5.3% in July from 5.5% in June. The rate came in line with the estimate published on July 31 and also marked the lowest since January 2022, when inflation was 5.1%.

At the same time, core inflation that excludes prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, held steady at 5.5%, as initially estimated.

A separate data from Eurostat showed eurozone construction output declined in June after recovering somewhat in the previous month. Production in the construction sector decreased 1% month-on-month in June, reversing a 0.2% rise in May.

On a yearly basis, total construction output fell 0.3% in June, in contrast to a 0.3% increase a month ago. UK retail sales registered a bigger-than-expected fall in July, dropping by 1.2% month-on-month, offsetting June's 0.6% increase. This was the first drop in four months.

Provisional data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Switzerland's industrial production declined in the second quarter amid contractions in both mining and quarrying and manufacturing output.

Industrial production dropped 0.8% year-over-year in the second quarter, reversing a 4.2% growth in the first quarter. Further, this was the first decrease since the first quarter of 2021.