ASML, AstraZeneca among the big decliners
European markets struggled Friday, finishing in the red and with chunky weekly losses, as concerns about the U.K.’s Brexit deal again hit top banks, and chip makers were dented after Nvidia Corp. warned on weaker sales ahead.
What are markets doing?
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.20% closed 0.2% lower at 357.71, bringing the week’s losses to 2.2%.
The French CAC 40 PX1, -0.17% ended down 0.2% at 5,025.20, with a weekly slip of 1.6%, while Germany’s DAX 30 DAX, -0.11% wrapped up the day off 0.1% at 11,341. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 UKX, -0.34% dipped 0.3% to finish at 7,013.88. It produced a weekly drop of 1.3%.
The euro EURUSD, +0.7589% rose to $1.1392 from $1.1332 on Thursday in New York, while the pound GBPUSD, +0.4619% was last trading at $1.2848, up from $1.2774.
What drove the market?
Turmoil around the announcement of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal with the European Union has weighed on London stocks, and rippled across to Europe on Thursday, and some of that continued into Friday’s trading session. Resignations from key U.K. cabinet members on Thursday raised concerns that the country could end up leaving the bloc with no concrete deal.
But the pound was finding strength Friday, which leaned on big U.K. exporters that get a chunk of their sales in other currencies. And Brexit drama also could add to worries about global growth after Germany’s economy contracted for the first time in three years earlier this week.
Technology stocks in Europe were feeling the heat from disappointing quarterly results by Nvidia Corp. NVDA, -18.76% late Thursday, which added to pressure on U.S. stocks.
Stock movers
AstraZeneca PLC AZN, -1.76% AZN, -1.79% AZN, -1.79% fell 1.8% . The company reported negative results from its cancer drug Imfinzi on Friday.
Brexit concerns again hit banks like HSBC Holdings PLC HSBA, -0.59% HSBC, -0.38% , which fell 0.6%, moderating steeper losses earlier by the close.
Fallout from Nvidia left major chip stocks such as ams AG AMS, -5.40% , the Apple Inc. AAPL, +1.11% supplier which cut its own outlook earlier this week. Shares ended 5.4% lower.
Also hit, ASML Holding NV ASML, -4.41% ASML, -2.99% dropped 3% and STMicroelectronics STM, -1.89% STM, -1.54% fell 1.2%.