Europe open: Hawkish Fedspeak weighs on stocks

European stocks were on the back-foot at the start of the session, with 'hawkish' Fedspeak overnight helping to push the Stoxx 600 lower for a third consecutive week.

The benchmark DJ Stoxx 600 was lower by 0.73% or 2.44 points to 330.67 - putting it on course for a third consecutive weekly loss -, alongside a drop of 0.80% or 78.49 points for Germany's Dax and a 0.76% or 32.68 point slide in the Cac-40.

Overnight, Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren, who typically has a 'dovish' slant suggested he could back a June interest rate increase if recent economic trends continue, Market News International reported.

Keeping interest rates "too low too long" could lead to excessive speculation, he added.

Esther George, his peer at the Federal Reserve bank of Kansas City was of a similar view, saying that interest rate hike expectations were "too low".

Weather Gods not behind German GDP

On a more positive note, Germany's economy expanded in the first quarter of the year more quickly than economists had predicted, with gross domestic product expanding at a 0.7% quarter-on-quarter clip (consensus: 0.6%).

The data, which showed household and government spending offsetting weak demand from overseas, left economists divided on the outlook in its wake.

"The key question is whether this marks the beginning of a sustained upturn. We doubt it.[...] We think the Q2 story will be the inverse of Q1. Domestic demand will slow, but net exports likely will rebound slightly. Overall we think quarter-on-quarter growth will fall back to about 0.2%-to-0.3%," Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics said in a research note sent to clients.

"Looking at the so far available G7 data shows that Germany even outpaced its peers. It is true that special circumstances, such as the mild winter weather (and hence construction), additionally boosted GDP growth. However, such fault-finding misses the point. Even if the weather god had not been on our side the recovery would have gathered pace. The German economy is in the midst of a regime change towards more domestic demand," was the verdict from Andreas Rees, chief German economist at UniCredit Research.

French construction and telecommunications outfit Bouygues reiterated its full-year guidance, helping to send its stock up by 3.1%.

Eutelsat shares plunged after the satellite operator cut its 2016 and 2017 forecasts.

Euro/dollar was 0.30% lower at 1.1341, weighed down by the 'hawkish' Fed rhetoric, while front month Brent crude futures were off by 0.376% to $47.90 per barrel on the ICE.