LONDON – European markets retreated on Friday after a rise in bond yields revived concerns over stock valuations, while a US Federal Reserve decided not to extend a pandemic-era rule that enabled banks has to relax capital levels, the risk assets further hit.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell by 1.1% during afternoon trading, and banks fell by 2.7% to lead losses as all sectors except utilities fell into the red.
U.S. stocks fell in public on Friday after the Fed failed to extend the rule at the end of the month that relaxed the supplementary leverage ratio for banks during the pandemic.
European equities started the day with a weak handover from Asia-Pacific, where equities mostly declined during trading on Friday following the sell-off of Thursday. Following its latest monetary policy meeting, the Bank of Japan announced a series of measures that could widen the range in which the Japanese government bond yield is allowed for ten years, ranging from the target level to between plus and minus 0.25%.
Oil prices are also in focus after a slump on Friday as reports of new waves of coronavirus infections and further closure measures in Europe dampen the outlook for crude demand.
Germany and France are among the countries resuming the introduction of the Cstraid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca / University of Oxford on Friday, after British and European drug regulators recommended using it following concerns about a small number of recipients receiving blood clots develop.
In terms of the data, British consumer sentiment reached an annual high in March, according to a GfK survey, with the hope that a looming economic recovery will increase as the country seeks to emerge from nationwide lock-in measures in the coming months.
In terms of the individual stock price movement, TeamViewer fell 12% during afternoon trading after the German software company remotely reduced its 2021 lead.
Danish IT consultant Netcompany climbed 3% after concluding a contract to develop Denmark’s coronavirus passport for use from May, according to Danish media reports.
– CNun’s Yun Li and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.
Sign in to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live workday programming from around the world.