By European stocks fell more than 1 on Friday, tracking declines in Asian and U.S. equity markets on caution around a retail trading frenzy that gripped Wall Street this week.
The benchmark STOXX 600 index dropped 1.6 in early trading, on course to end the week with its worst decline since late October.
Londons bluechip FTSE 100 was down 1.7 and Germanys DAX declined 1.6, while on Wall Street, SP 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures shed more than 1 each .
The U.S. stock market, already looking overvalued after a stimulusled rally last year, has been jolted this week by steep gains in heavily shorted stocks, including Gamestop and AMC Entertainment.
Concerns around the potential economic damage from a new strain of the coronavirus in Europe also dented sentiment in the past few days.
In a busy day for earnings, Swedens Ericsson jumped 7.0 after reporting fourthquarter core earnings ahead of market estimates on the back of strong sales of 5G equipment.
Swedish fashion retailer HM slipped 1.3 after its profits plummeted in the full year through November and warned that the pandemic would hit it hard in the current quarter.
Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V
Source Reuters
