Mounting fears about an imminent deep recession due to surging new coronavirus cases across the globe, and a sharp contraction in euro zone business activity in the month of March pushed European stocks down to a weak close on Friday.
Data from the U.S. Labor Department showing a much bigger than expected drop in employment in the month of March added to the woes.
Among the major markets, Germany and Switzerland saw some modest buying, with the latter even managing a few brief spells in positive territory. Markets in the U.K. and France were weak right through the day.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.97% down. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended lower by 1.18%, France's CAC 40 declined 1.57%, Germany's DAX shed 0.47% and Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.31%.
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and Ukraine ended notably lower.
Denmark, Poland and Russia closed higher, while Greece, Iceland, Norway, Spain and Turkey ended flat.
In the German market, Thyssenkrupp ended more than 7% down. Adidas declined 4.4%. Munich Ruckevers, HeidelbergCement, Daimler and E.ON lost 2.5 to 3.4%. Deutsche Bank, Allianz and BASF also declined sharply.
Fresenius moved up by about 4%, while Merck, Infineon Technologies and Fresenius Medical Care gained 1.2 to 2%.
In France, Unibail Rodamco, Societe Generale, Total, Safran, Dassault Systemes Group and AXA ended lower by 5 to 8.2%. BNP Paribas, Veolia, Capgemini, Credit Agricole, Renault and STMicroElectronics also ended sharply lower.
On the other hand, Carrefour, Publicis Groupe, Sanofi, Air Liquide and Technip ended with strong gains.
In the U.K. market, Legal & General tumbled 11%. Rolls-Royce Holdings, Whitbread, Pearson, Barratt Developments, M&G, Smiths and TUI lost 6 to 10%.
BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Anglo American, Glencore and EasyJet also ended sharply lower, while Hikma Pharmaceutical, Morrison Supermarkets, Bunzi, Relx, J Sainsbury and Ocado Group gained 3 to 5%.
The euro area private sector logged its biggest monthly fall on record in March as the coronavirus disease, or covid-19, pandemic impacted heavily on economic activity, final data from IHS Markit showed Friday.
The final composite output index fell sharply to 29.7 in March from 51.6 in February. This was also weaker than the flash estimate of 31.4.
Both services and manufacturing sectors recorded notable declines in output in March. Manufacturers posted the sharpest fall in production since April 2009. At the same time, services activity declined at a record pace.
The final services Purchasing Managers' Index plunged to a record low of 26.4 from 52.6 a month ago. The reading was also below the preliminary estimate of 28.4.
The UK service sector registered its steepest downturn in more than two decades in March due to business shutdowns and order cancellation in response to the coronavirus, or covid-19, pandemic.
The services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 34.5 in March from 53.2 in February, survey data from IHS Markit and Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply showed Friday. This was also below the flash reading of 35.7.
The score exceeded the previous record low seen at the height of the global financial crisis and suggested the fastest downturn since the survey began in July 1996.
the Labor Department showed employment in the U.S. fell much more than expected in the month of March.
The report said employment plunged by 701,000 jobs in March after jumping by an upwardly revised 275,000 jobs in February.
Economists had expected employment to slump by 100,000 jobs compared to the addition of 273,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
With the much bigger than expected drop in employment, the unemployment rate surged up to 4.4% in March from 3.5% in February. The unemployment rate had been expected to climb to 3.8%.
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