European Shares Mostly Lower As Trade War Fears Intensify
(RTTNews) - European shares drifted lower on Friday amid signs that U.S. President Donald Trump could be intensifying a broader trade war that could damage growth worldwide.
Meanwhile, German consumer sentiment is set to rise only marginally heading into April despite a revival in expectations regarding the economy after the new elections, a closely watched survey revealed earlier today.
The forward-looking consumer climate index rose to -24.5 in April from -24.6 in March, according to a survey jointly published by the market research group GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions.
Elsewhere, the British pound climbed after the release of positive retail sales and GDP data.
British retail sales unexpectedly climbed by 1 percent in February, surpassing expectations of a 0.4 percent decline, driven largely by higher spending on clothing and household goods.
The British economy expanded by 1.5 percent year-on-year for the fourth quarter, slightly above the 1.4 percent growth anticipated.
The pan European STOXX 600 was down 0.3 percent at 544.84 after ending at its lowest level in nearly two weeks the previous day.
The German DAX fell 0.7 percent and France's CAC 40 shed 0.6 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent.
French video game maker Ubisoft jumped more than 7 percent after Chinese gaming studio Tencent agreed to invest about 1.16 billion Euros (Approximately 1.3 billion USD) for a 25 percent stake in its subsidiary.
German lender Deutsche Bank fell 2.3 percent after extending CEO Christian Sewing's contract.
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