European Shares Slide On Tariff, Growth Worries
(RTTNews) - European stocks declined on Friday due to uncertainty around U.S. tariff policy and China's growth outlook.
Traders also looked ahead to the release of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, followed by a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later in the day for additional clues about monetary policy outlook for the world's biggest economy.
The euro regained bullish momentum against the dollar after European Union leaders committed to a massive step in defense cooperation following decades of hesitation.
The 27 leaders signed off on a move to loosen budget restrictions so willing EU countries can increase military spending.
The pan European STOXX 600 fell 0.8 percent to 551.31 after finishing marginally lower on Thursday.
The German DAX dropped 1.4 percent, after having rallied 1.5 percent the previous day amid ongoing optimism for a massive increase in public spending in the country.
France's CAC 40 lost about 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down half a percent. Luxury stocks were broadly lower, with Kering, Richemont and Burberry falling 4-5 percent.
Vivendi rallied 2.3 percent despite the conglomerate posting 6 billion euros ($6.47 billion) in net losses for 2024 after a four-way spinoff late last year.
Zalando tumbled 3.6 percent. The German e-retailer announced that it has secured the purchase of 90 percent of About You's share capital in its public takeover offer.
Hunting Plc, a precision engineering group, gained more than 2 percent after acquiring the Organic Oil Recovery (OOR) technology for $17.5 million.
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