© Reuters. A screen showing an illustration of the German DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, with a photo from the Reuters archive
(Reuters) – European stocks fell on Friday as retailers came under pressure following the start of the holiday shopping season amid fears of a sharp slowdown in the global economy and a sharp rise in inflation.
The index fell 0.1% at 0811 GMT, below the three-month high touched earlier this week.
The European retail index fell 0.6% on Friday, which falls on (Black Friday) and marks the start of the holiday shopping season. This year comes amid an exacerbation of the living crisis and concern over the FIFA World Cup.
This index is among the worst in Europe, having fallen by 32% since the beginning of the year.
Despite Friday’s decline, the STOXX 600 index is poised to record gains for the sixth consecutive week, supported by indications that the Federal Reserve (the central bank of the United States) may ease the pace of interest rate hikes.
Data released on Friday showed the German economy grew slightly in the third quarter than initially estimated, buoyed by consumer spending.
(Prepared by Marwa Gharib for the Arab Bulletin – Edited by Suha Jadu)
