European stocks lower with inflation, slowdown worries

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - European stock markets closed lower on Friday with rising inflation and economic slowdown worries.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, fell 1.43, or 0.3%, to 475.56 points.

London's FTSE 100 lost 29 points, or 0.4%, to end at 7,291, while Germany's DAX 30 was off almost 16 points, or 0.1%, to 15,623.

The annual inflation rate in Germany stood at 5.2% in November, its highest since June 1992, according to data released earlier by the Federal Statistical Office, Destatis.

In the UK, the economy barely grew in October by an estimated 0.1%, and it is still 0.5% below its pre-pandemic level of February 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) earlier.

France's CAC 40 index fell 16 points, or 0.24%, to 6,991, while Italy's FTSE MIB 30 lost 95 points, or 0.36%, to end the day at 26,721.

Spain's IBEX 35 was the worst performer of the day by falling 39 points, or 0.47%, to close at 8,360.