European Markets Sank On Concerns Over Greece & China

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Friday's session solidly in negative territory. Significant weakness in China weighed on investor sentiment at the end of the trading week. Chinese regulators reportedly expanded the supply of shares available for short sellers while clamping down on over-the-counter margin trading.

Concerns over the situation in Greece also had a negative impact on the markets. The possibility of a Greek default and a Greek exit of the Eurozone has investors on edge. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble refused further concessions to Greece and the International Monetary Fund ruled out giving the country any leeway on 1 billion euros of debt repayments due by early May.

Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reportedly said he was "firmly optimistic" that there will be an agreement with creditors by the end of April. As per the Eurogroup accord on February 20, Greece must reach an outline funding agreement with its lenders at the Eurogroup meeting on April 24.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased by 2.15 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 1.70 percent.

The DAX of Germany declined by 2.58 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell by 1.55 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. dropped by 0.93 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 1.62 percent.

In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank dropped by 3.23 percent and Commerzbank fell by 2.43 percent.

Fresenius Medical Care decreased by 3.40 percent and Fresenius lost 2.93 percent.

Merck declined by 2.96 percent and Bayer finished down by 3.89 percent.

In Paris, Accor finished higher by 1.03 percent, after its first-quarter sales rose.

Credit Agricole declined by 2.83 percent and BNP Paribas fell by 2.17 percent. Societe Generale finished lower by 1.69 percent.

In London, mining stocks were under pressure, due to weakness in China. Anglo American dropped by 2.74 percent and Antofagasta lost 2.01 percent. BHP Billiton declined by 1.60 percent and Fresnillo fell by 2.02 percent. Glencore also decreased by 1.18 percent.

Food giant Nestle, which reported quarterly sales, fell by 0.85 percent in Zurich.

Syngenta dropped by 4.40 percent, after the chemicals firm issued first-quarter sales figures, which reflected currency impact.

Eurozone's consumer prices declined in March from a year ago, as estimated earlier, but prices rose from the previous month at the fastest rate in two years, latest figures from the statistical office Eurostat showed Friday.

The harmonized index of consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent annually after a 0.3 percent decline in February. That was in line with the flash estimate released by Eurostat on March 31. Prices decreased for the fourth consecutive month.

The euro area current account surplus declined in February largely due to a decrease in primary income, data published by the European Central Bank showed Friday. The current account surplus dropped to a seasonally adjusted EUR 26.4 billion from EUR 30.4 billion in January.

Swiss retail sales declined for a second straight month in February, marking its biggest annual fall on record, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed on Friday.

Retail sales dropped an adjusted 2.7 percent year-on-year following a 0.5 percent drop in January. In December, sales grew 1.8 percent from a year ago. The latest fall was the biggest since the series began in 2003.

The U.K. unemployment rate fell to the lowest since 2008 and claimant count reached a 40-year low, labor market statistics released ahead of the General Elections showed Friday. The ILO jobless rate eased to 5.6 percent in three months to February from 5.8 percent in September to November, the Office for National Statistics said. The rate was the lowest since 2008 and matched economists' expectations.

While the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing another modest increase in U.S. consumer prices in the month of March, prices rose by slightly less than economists had anticipated. The Labor Department said its consumer price index edged up by 0.2 percent in March, matching the increase seen in February. Economists had expected the index to rise by 0.3 percent.

Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has improved by more than expected in the month of April, according to a report released by the University of Michigan on Friday. The report showed that the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for April came in at 95.9 compared to the final March reading of 93.0. Economists had expected the index to edge up to 94.0.

The Conference Board released a report Friday morning showing a continued increase by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of March, although the index rose by less than economists had expected. The report said the leading economic index increased by 0.2 percent in March following a downwardly revised 0.1 percent uptick in February.

Economists had been expecting the index to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.