BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European markets dropped again Friday, extending the weakness from the prior trading session. Trade war concerns sent investors fleeing to safe havens at the end of the trading week, after yesterday's declaration from U.S. President Trump.
Trump signed an executive memorandum imposing tariffs on at least $50 billion in Chinese imports. Meanwhile, Beijing has outlined plans to introduce tariffs on U.S. imports.
Traders are also concerned over the high turnover within the Trump administration. In the latest move, John Bolton, the former U.S. envoy to the UN, has been appointed as Trump's national security adviser.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index weakened by 0.90 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 1.49 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 1.03 percent.
The DAX of Germany dropped 1.77 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 1.39 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.44 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.80 percent.
In Frankfurt, biotechnology company MorphoSys fell 1.35 percent. The company has filed a Registration Statement on Form F-1 with SEC to raise up to $150 million in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
In London, Indivior sank 6.25 percent after losing a patent protection case.
Engineering company Smiths Group tumbled 4.39 percent after its first-half profit fell due to higher research costs and lower margin.
Next Plc jumped 7.67 percent. After reporting a marginal decline in total sales in the year through January 2018, the apparel chain said it sees a more favorable pricing environment in the coming year.
GlaxoSmithKline rallied 3.28 percent. The company said it has withdrawn from the race to buy Pfizer Inc.'s consumer healthcare business.
Credit Suisse Group lost 1.35 percent in Zurich. The banking giant announced that proposed total compensation for CEO Tidjane Thiam for 2017 would be 9.70 million Swiss francs, 5 percent lower than the prior year.
New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods surged up by much more than anticipated in the month of February, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday. The report said durable goods orders jumped by 3.1 percent in February after slumping by 3.5 percent in January. Economists had expected durable goods orders to increase by 1.5 percent.
A report released by the Commerce Department on Friday showed a modest decrease in new home sales in the month of February. The report said new home sales fell by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 618,000 in February from an upwardly revised 622,000 in January.
Economists had expected new home sales to rise to a rate of 623,000 from the 593,000 originally reported for the previous month.
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