European stocks slipped on Friday, weighed down by a sharp
selloff on Wall Street overnight.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.5% in early trade, extending
the previous day's declines.
Thursday's session had turned sour after U.S. markets opened,
with a combination of high stock prices, worries about the path of
U.S. monetary policy and uncertainty over the global economy and
conflicts sparking a 1.6% decline in the S&P 500.
"Slowing growth in China and a tightening in U.S. interest rate
markets are combining to make this a frenetic month for global
equity markets," said analysts at Barclays.
The selling continued in Asia, where Japan's Nikkei dropped
0.9%, and most European indexes followed suit. Germany's DAX fell
0.5%, France's CAC 40 was 0.3% lower, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost
0.3%.
Adding to the negative tone, a survey released Friday showed
German consumer confidence is expected to deteriorate for a second
consecutive month in October.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar chalked up small gains,
pushing it close to the near two-year high against the euro it
reached on Thursday before the equity selloff pulled it back
somewhat. The euro was 0.1% lower at $1.2748.
Sterling fell 0.2% against the dollar to $1.6306.
In corporate news, banknote printer De La Rue plummeted after
the firm announced a profit warning.
Air France-KLM was also among the fallers as a pilots" strike at
Air France entered its twelfth day.
In commodities markets, gold climbed 0.4% to $1,227.20 an ounce,
and Brent crude oil lost 0.3% to $96.74 a barrel.
Write to Tommy Stubbington at tommy.stubbington@wsj.com
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