Europe close: Stocks end week on a down note but off their session lows
European shares extended their losses on Friday, falling in line with the global sell-off sparked by hot US inflation figures the day before and fears of more aggressive interest rate rises ahead.
"The sight of some small gains for stocks [on Wall Street] after yesterday’s sharp reversal is normally a welcome sight, but with the Volatility Index rising again it looks like this bounce could be brief," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.
"Traders, investors and strategists are falling over themselves to make guesses as to where US interest rates will be by the end of the year and suddenly a multitude of rate increases now looks to be the norm rather than a left-field guess."
The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.59% to 469.57, alongside a 0.82% drop on Milan's FSTE Mib to 26,966.10 while Madrid's Ibex 35 gave back 0.99% to 8,798.10.
Nevertheless, most of the main stock market indices in the region managed to finish well off their lows of the session.
Investors had taken fright as St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said overnight that the latest US CPI data, showing that inflation hit a 40-year high of 7.5% in January, had made him "dramatically" more hawkish.
In equity news, Delivery Hero shares slumped a further 11% after a 25% plunge on Thursday driven by weaker-than-expected forecasts by the food delivery platform.
Volvo Cars slipped 5% after posting earnings below analysts' expectations, pressured by the lingering global supply shortages.
State-controlled French power company EDF fell 2% after cutting its estimate for its French nuclear output in 2023 from 340-370 TWh to 300-330 TWh.
On the upside, food products and sugar producer Tate & Lyle gained 10% after an upbeat final three months of 2021 led to a rise in revenues.