By Tommy Stubbington
European stocks slipped on Friday, weighed down by a sharp selloff on Wall Street overnight.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.5% in early trade, extending the previous day’s declines.
Thursday’s session had turned sour after U.S. markets opened, with a combination of high stock prices, worries about the path of U.S. monetary policy and uncertainty over the global economy and conflicts sparking a 1.6% decline in the S&P 500 .
“Slowing growth in China and a tightening in U.S. interest rate markets are combining to make this a frenetic month for global equity markets,” said analysts at Barclays.
The selling continued in Asia, where Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.9%, and most European indexes followed suit. Germany’s DAX fell 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 was 0.3% lower, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 lost 0.3%.
Adding to the negative tone, a survey released Friday showed German consumer confidence is expected to deteriorate for a second consecutive month in October.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar chalked up small gains, pushing it close to the near two-year high against the euro it reached on Thursday before the equity selloff pulled it back somewhat. The euro was 0.1% lower at $1.2748.
Sterling fell 0.2% against the dollar to $1.6306.
In corporate news, banknote printer De La Rue plummeted after the firm announced a profit warning.
Air France-KLM was also among the fallers as a pilots’ strike at Air France entered its twelfth day.
In commodities markets, gold climbed 0.4% to $1,227.20 an ounce, and Brent crude oil lost 0.3% to $96.74 a barrel.
