Europe open: Stoxx takes a pause after record highs

European stocks ended their rally with a slightly lower open on Friday, as traders and investors digested a raft of interest rate decisions and dovish comments from policy makers which drove new record highs for the benchmark Stoxx index.

The index was down 0.15% at 509.03 in early deals. The US Federal Reserve indicated it was still on track for three cuts this year, while the Bank of England held rates steady and also suggested it would cut in the future in inflation was under control and the Swiss National Bank surprised everyone with a reduction.

With little economic or corporate news out there was little to drive sentiment. In Britain retail sales were flat in February as fuel and food saw declines, in part due to the bad weather, according to data released on Friday.

In equity news, Phoenix Group surged after releasing results and said it would target $1.77bn in operating cash by 2026.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com