European markets moved lower in early trade on Friday, with travel stocks leading the losses.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was nearly 0.6% lower by 11:50 a.m. London time, while the French CAC 40 was around 0.6% lower and the German DAX shed 0.7%. London’s FTSE 100 was nearly 0.5% lower.
The travel and leisure sector shed 1.5% after London’s Heathrow Airport closed on Friday following a fire at a nearby electrical substation. British Airways-owner International Airlines Group was trading around 1.5% lower by around 10 a.m.
Travel stocks
European investors are also digesting monetary policy updates that came from multiple central banks in the region, as well as the U.S. Federal Reserve, this week.
The Bank of Russia held its key rates at 21% on Friday, citing high inflationary pressures. On Thursday, the Swiss National Bank trimmed interest rates by 25 basis points, while the Bank of England held rates steady in the U.K. and Sweden’s Riksbank also opted not to alter interest rates.
“Since [our] previous meeting, global trade policy uncertainty has intensified, and the United States has made a range of tariff announcements, to which some governments have responded,” the Bank of England said on Thursday. “Other geopolitical uncertainties have also increased and indicators of financial market volatility have risen globally.”
It came after the Fed also kept its key interest rate steady on Wednesday. Although the central bank said it still sees two rate cuts happening this year, officials cut their 2025 economic growth forecast for the U.S. and noted that uncertainty had increased, with tariffs poised to add inflationary pressure.
European stocks ended a four-day winning streak on Thursday when the Stoxx 600 shed 0.4% over the course of the trading session. The index, which is up almost 9% since the beginning of the year, is still on track for a weekly gain.
Overnight in Asia, markets were mixed as global economic jitters persisted.
On Wall Street, stock futures fell following a broad selloff on Thursday.
— CNBC’s Sophie Kiderlin and Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
