European Markets Finish With Modest Losses

(RTTNews) - The major European stock markets came off early lows on Friday but still finished in the red, handing back gains from the previous session.

The selling pressure that emerged came after two Federal Reserve officials said interest rates may need to move to a higher level than anticipated. In addition, more hawkish rate repricing has driven up U.S. Treasury rates and dented demand for riskier assets.

Germany's DAX shed 51.64 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 15,482.00, while London's FTSE dipped 8.17 points or 0.10 percent to close at 8,004.36 and the CAC 40 in France dropped 18.44 points or 0.25 percent to end at 7,347.72.

In Germany, Allianz plunged 1.85 percent, while Fresenius SE jumped 1.58 percent, Linde retreated 1.54 percent, Infineon Technologies declined 1.50 percent, Daimler Truck Holding improved 1.42 percent, Deutsche Post slumped 1.34 percent, Deutsche Telekom climbed 1.17 percent, Volkswagen and Deutsche Borse both rose 0.18 percent and Deutsche Bank collected 0.17 percent.

In London, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust plummeted 3.10 percent, while Rightmove tumbled 2.14 percent, Coca-Cola rallied 2.08 percent, Shell retreated 1.80 percent, Haleon improved 1.34 percent, Rolls-Royce Holdings skidded 1.18 percent, Vodafone advanced 0.85 percent, Centrica added 0.82 percent, M&G gained 0.70 percent, St. James Place sank 0.28 percent and Prudential fell 0.27 percent.

In France, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain soared 2.69 percent, while Atos rallied 2.40 percent, L'Oreal and Worldline both retreated 1.79 percent, Sanofi jumped 1.42 percent, Engie improved 0.94 percent, Orange advanced 0.92 percent, BNP Paribas sank 0.56 percent, Societe Generale slumped 0.50 percent, Credit Agricole lost 0.42 percent and Carrefour was down 0.22 percent.

In economic news, France's consumer price inflation increased 6.0 percent on year in January amid an acceleration in the price growth of energy and food products, the latest data from the statistical office INSEE showed on Friday.

Germany's producer price inflation eased for the fourth straight month to an annual 17.8 percent in January to reach its lowest level in nearly one-and-a-half years amid a continued slowdown in energy prices, data from Destatis showed Friday.

UK retail turnover rebounded unexpectedly in January, up 0.5 percent on month, driven by sales promotions, official data showed on Friday. That was in contrast to the 1.2 percent decline in December and -0.6 percent in November, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed. Sales were expected to drop 0.3 percent.