BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European markets ended notably lower on Friday as rising worries about outlook for economic recovery due to spikes in coronavirus infections and stricter lockdown restrictions in several cities across the world outweighed a massive stimulus announcement made by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden.
Several countries across the world, including China, Germany and France have tightened lockdown measures.
Rising tensions between the U.S. and China added to the woes.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended lower by 1.01%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended nearly 1% down, Germany's DAX slid 1.44% and France's CAC 40 lost 1.22%, while Switzerland's SMI bucked the trend and ended 0.24%. The FTSE 100 shed about 2% this week, while the DAX and CAC 40 lost 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey ended with sharp to moderate losses, while Czech Republic and Iceland declined marginally.
In the UK market, Anglo American Plc shares ended lower by 5.3%. Just Eat Takeaway and Smith DS lost nearly 5% and 4.7%, respectively. Antofagasta, Kingfisher, BHP Group and Rio Tinto lost 3 to 3.7%.
Barclays Group, BP, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Smiths Group and Polymetal International also ended sharply lower.
Babcock International shares plunged more than 16% after the defense firm said profits had suffered a 'negative impact' from civil nuclear insourcing
On the other hand, Aveva Group surged up nearly 7% after giving a confident outlook for the full year. GlaxoSmithKline and Pennon Group gained 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively, while Unilever gained nearly 1%.
In Germany, Deutsche Bank ended lower by nearly 4%. Adidas, RWE, Daimler, Thyssenkrupp and Infineon Technologies lost 1 to 3%.
Siemens declined sharply after General Electric Co accused a subsidiary of the power distribution company of stealing trade secrets to rig bids for gas turbine contracts.
In the French market, Peugeot, Renault, WorldLine, Carrefour, LVMH, ArcelorMittal, Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and Bouygues ended lower by 2 to 4%, while Publicis Groupe, Danone and Valeo posted strong gains.
In economic news, official data showed that Britain's economy contracted at a slower than expected pace in November. Gross domestic product shrank 2.6% month on month in November but slower than the 5.7% fall economists' had forecast.
French consumer prices remained stable on a yearly basis in December, as initially estimated, after rising 0.2% in November, final data released by the statistical office Insee revealed.
Eurozone exports increased for the seventh straight month in November, first estimate from Eurostat showed. Exports grew 2% on month and imports climbed 2.4% from October. However, compared to the month before restrictions were imposed in February, both flows were still down by 4.4% and 4.8%, respectively.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX