European markets post losses with retails sales down

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - European stock markets closed lower on Friday as euro area retail sales declined by 3% in December on a monthly basis.

The volume of retail trade also fell in EU27 by 2.8% in December, from the previous month, Eurostat announced earlier.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, fell 6.48 points, or 1.38%, to close at 462.15.

The UK's FTSE 100 index lost 12 points, or 0.17%, to end the day at 7,516. Germany's DAX 30 shed 268 points, or 1.75%, to finish at 15,099.

France's CAC 40 was off 54 points, or 0.77%, to 6,951 points, while Spain's IBEX 35 declined 100 points, or 1.15%, to finish at 8,589.

Italy's FTSE MIB was the worst performer of the day plummeting 485 points, or 1.79%, to end at 26,603 points.