European Shares Slide In Cautious Trade

European stocks fell on Friday as risk-off sentiment prevailed amid concerns over higher interest rates and rising geopolitical tensions in Ukraine. Investors were also reacting to mixed economic readings from Germany and France.

While the German economy shrunk by 0.7 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2021, the French economy logged a moderate growth at the end of 2021, separate reports showed.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell almost 1 percent to 465.61 after gaining 0.7 percent on Thursday.

The German DAX declined 1.4 percent, France’s CAC 40 index fell over 1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.9 percent.

Holcim fell about 1 percent. The Swiss building material company has partnered with Eni to advance its carbon capture portfolio. Shares of the latter declined 1.5 percent.

Sweden’s H&M jumped 5.7 percent after the fashion retailer reported higher-than-expected profit for the September-November period and said it aims to double sales by 2030.

Home appliance company Electrolux lost 4 percent after posting a drop in quarterly profit.

Truck maker AB Volvo tumbled 3.1 percent after reporting lower earnings.

Lighting maker Signify NV soared almost 14 percent after reporting higher quarterly earnings.

Travel-related stocks such as Lufthansa, Air France KLM, EasyJet and IAG fell 1-2 percent after Wuhan scientists warned of a new coronavirus variant and Spain said it would tighten its Covid entry requirements for U.K. tourists from next month ahead of the February half term.

Phoenix Group Holdings fell 3.8 percent in London after abrdn Plc confirmed it sold 40.0 million shares in the life insurance company for GBP264 million.

Ocado slumped 4.3 percent, a day after the grocery specialist announced it has developed robots which will enable cheaper, faster deliveries. Primark owner Associated British Foods lost 2.7 percent.

LVMH rose 1.4 percent. The French luxury goods company said that revenue last year totaled 64.2 billion euros ($71.6 billion), topping the previous record set in 2019. Rivals Kering and Hermes were down about 1 percent each.

German chemicals company Henkel slumped 8.6 percent as it announced plans to merge its business units Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care into one business unit: Henkel Consumer Brands.

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