European stocks ended sharply lower on Friday as surging energy prices and renewed expectations of interest rate hikes by major central banks moved back into focus. The Eurozone’s STOXX 50 fell 1.8% to 5,825, leaving it down 1.5% for the week, while the pan-European STOXX 600 declined 1.6% to 606, a weekly loss of 1%.
Sovereign bond yields across the Eurozone jumped after a summit between US and Chinese officials concluded without concrete progress on resolving the US conflict with Iran, a development that pushed oil and gas prices higher and reinforced inflationary pressures.
Losses were heaviest among power-intensive industrials, with Siemens, Safran, Airbus, and Schneider Electric dropping between 2.6% and 5.5%. Meanwhile, ASML and Infineon slumped around 4.5% as AI-related stocks worldwide pared back their recent rallies over the week.
