European markets close lower; bank stocks shed 4% on Silicon Valley Bank plummet

Banking stocks led losses in the pan-European Stoxx 600 at the start of trading, following in the footsteps of the dramatic U.S. bank stocks sell-off Thursday.

SVB Financial plunged 60% after it announced a plan to raise more than $2 billion in capital in an attempt to offset losses from bond sales.

The banking sector was the biggest negative mover as it shed 4.5% in early trade.

Deutsche Bank was down 7% in early trade, Barclays and Swedbank lost 5.5%, Commerzbank shed 5.4% and Societe Generale and HSBC dropped 5.3%.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

European markets opened lower Friday, led by a sell-off in the banking sector.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 market was down 1.4%, with most sectors and major bourses trading in negative territory. Bank stocks led losses, down 4.2% just after market open, followed by autos, which dropped 2.7%. Food and beverages and utilities bucked the trend and traded just above the flatline.

The U.K. economy grew by 0.3% in January, official figures showed on Friday, exceeding expectations as it continues to fend off what economists see as an inevitable recession.

Economists polled by Reuters had projected a 0.1% monthly increase in GDP. GDP was flat over the three months to the end of January, the Office for National Statistics said.

Suren Thiru, economics director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said that the "modest" January rebound suggests the economy is still on a "downbeat path."

"We're likely to continue flirting with recession throughout much of 2023, as high inflation, tax rises and the lagged effect of rising interest rates shrinks consumer spending power, despite a boost from easing energy costs," Thiru said.

Read the full story here.

- Elliot Smith

European markets are expected to open lower across the board. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index will open 100 points down to 7,780, according to IG data, while Germany's DAX index will be 201 points lower at 15,437. France's CAC will be at 7,216 points at market open, down 100 points, while Italy's MIB will be 434 points lower at 27,279.

Economists expect data coming Friday before the bell to show hiring remained strong in February and that wages grew faster than they did in the prior month.

Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast 225,000 new jobs were added in February, which would be lower than January's surprisingly large addition of 517,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, is expected to stay at 3.4%, which is a low not seen since 1969.

And economists anticipate average hourly earnings will rise by 0.4% from January for a 4.8% year-over-year. That is more than the prior month, which brought a 0.3% month over month and 4.4% annualized increase.

— Patti Domm

Bond yields are surging, as markets get jittery on reignited fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer. The 2-year Treasury topped 5% for the first time since 2007 earlier this week

As rates surge, it becomes harder to find stocks that can compete on a yield basis — but some do exist. CNBC Pro used FactSet to screen for global stocks on the MSCI World index with yields above 5%.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Bitcoin dipped below the $20,000 mark in Asia morning trade for the first time since mid-January, reaching $19,840 before recovering back above the psychological threshold.

The cryptocurrency fell 7.36% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMetrics and last stood at $20,115.53.

Ethereum also fell 6.92% in the past 24 hours and last traded at $1,431.81.

— Jihye Lee

Bank of Japan left its monetary policy unchanged, widely in line with expectations.

The central bank kept its negative interest rate at -0.1% and reiterated its target to keep the yield on the 10-year Japanese Government Bond around 0%.

"Japan's economy, despite being affected by factors such as high commodity prices, has picked up as the resumption of economic activity has progressed," Bank of Japan said in its policy statement on Friday, concluding governor Haruhiko Kuroda's final meeting in his term.

— Jihye Lee