Investing.com – European stock markets fell on Friday, continuing negative global sentiment on concerns that higher interest rates will hurt economic activity.
At 03:10 ET (07:10 GMT), shares in Germany were trading 0.9% lower, shares in France were down 0.6%, while shares in Britain were down 0.9%.
Weak global sentiment
European shares traded lower at the end of the week, following weakness in Asia and also on Wall Street, as rising concerns about persistent US inflation and high interest rates batter sentiment towards risk-driven assets.
The index in Japan fell more than 1% on Friday, while the blue chip average in the US suffered its worst session in more than a year on Thursday, falling more than 600 points.
This followed the release of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, which suggested the central bank could keep interest rates high for longer than expected, and a series of warnings about inflation from Federal Reserve officials.
The country is widely expected to cut interest rates in June, but British inflation came in higher than expected earlier this week, causing problems for the British economy.
Data released earlier Friday showed Britons fell more than expected in April, down 2.3% month-on-month, as wet weather kept shoppers away from clothing retailers and sports stores.
Abrdn’s CEO is leaving
The corporate earnings season is coming to an end, but British fund manager Abrdn (LON:) has announced that CEO Stephen Bird will step down after four years in the role and chief financial officer Jason Windsor will take over on an interim basis. . The stock rose 1%.
Rough price for weekly declines
Crude oil prices held steady on Friday, heading for steep weekly losses on concerns about U.S. economic activity amid persistent inflation and high interest rates.
At 3:10 AM ET, futures (WTI) were trading 0.1% lower at $76.79 per barrel, while the contract was down 0.1% at $81.30 per barrel.
Both contracts were on track to post weekly losses of more than 3%, with Brent at its weakest level in two months, while WTI was at its lowest level in three months.
All eyes are now on the next meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, collectively called OPEC+, in early June.
The group of producers is expected to discuss whether to extend voluntary oil production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day.
Moreover, the price rose 0.2% to $2,341.10/oz, while trading 0.1% higher at 1.0818.
