European stocks close lower as euro zone falls into double-dip recession; Barclays down 7%
- The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended down more than 0.3%, with most sectors in negative territory and major bourses pointing in opposite directions.
- The euro zone's gross domestic product fell 0.6% in the first quarter, according to preliminary data released by Europe's statistics office Eurostat on Friday morning.
- It means that the bloc suffered a second technical recession in just over a year, although economists are hopeful of an economic recovery in the coming months.
LONDON — European stocks closed lower on Friday after data showed a contraction in euro zone economic growth in the first quarter.
European markets
| TICKER | COMPANY | PRICE | CHANGE | %CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .FTSE | FTSE 100 | 8,352.10 | -18.23 | -0.22% |
| .GDAXI | DAX | 18,685.90 | +5.70 | +0.03% |
| .FCHI | CAC 40 Index | 8,096.51 | +4.40 | +0.05% |
| .FTMIB | FTSE MIB | 34,380.86 | -79.66 | -0.23% |
| .IBEX | IBEX 35 Idx | 11,298.70 | -30.30 | -0.27% |
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended down more than 0.3%, with most sectors in negative territory and major bourses pointing in opposite directions. Mining stocks led the losses, down 1.8%.
The euro zone's gross domestic product fell 0.6% in the first quarter, according to preliminary data released by Europe's statistics office Eurostat on Friday morning. It means that the bloc suffered a second technical recession in just over a year, although economists are hopeful of an economic recovery in the coming months.
Shares of U.K. bank Barclays dropped to the bottom of the European benchmark, down 7% after reporting first-quarter results. Barclays posted a net profit of £1.7 billion ($2.37 billion) for the first three months of the year, above the £1.3 billion expected by analysts.
French bank BNP Paribas closed almost 1% lower despite beating forecasts in its first-quarter results. It posted a net income of 1.8 billion euros versus the 1.2 billion euros estimated by analysts.
However, AstraZeneca climbed over 4% after the British pharmaceuticals giant said its coronavirus vaccine added $275 million in sales in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, said in a statement released Friday that technology giant Apple's App Store had breached competition rules. This followed a complaint made by music streaming service Spotify in 2019 about Apple's license agreements.
Apple said the EU's case was the "opposite of fair competition."
Stateside, major indexes fell on Friday, despite e-commerce giant Amazon reporting a record first-quarter profit. However, social media platform Twitter missed analyst forecasts on user growth expectations and shared lower-than-expected revenue guidance for the second quarter.
U.S. personal incomes and spending in March rose 21.1% and 4.2%, respectively, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday.
Asia-Pacific markets struggled for gains Friday, despite a positive finish stateside to Thursday's trading session.
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— CNBC's Saheli Roy Choudhury and Thomas Franck contributed to this report.