Investing.com - European stocks opened lower on Friday, tracking their U.S. and Asian counterparts and as declining oil prices weighed.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 slid 0.75%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.72%, while Germany’s DAX 30 retreated 0.79%.
Oil prices moved lower on Friday, after Russia warned that a global crude supply glut could last into next year.
Energy-related stocks were hit, as French oil and gas major Total SA (PA:TOTF) tumbled 1.10% and Italy’s ENI (MI:ENI) retreated 0.96%, while Norwegian rival Statoil ASA (OL:STL) dropped 0.41%.
Financial stocks were also broadly lower, as French lenders Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) and BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) lost 1.06% and 0.89%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) retreated 0.94% and 1.66%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) tumbled 1.43% and 1.99% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MC:SAN) and BBVA (MC:BBVA) dropped 0.79% and 0.75%.
On the upside, Bouygues (PA:BOUY) surged 3.81% after the French group confirmed its full-year guidance and said its first-quarter operating loss narrowed thanks to improvement in its telecoms unit.
In London, FTSE 100 slid 0.61%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower.
Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) declined 0.39% and HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) dropped 0.51%, while Barclays (LON:BARC) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) tumbled 1.29% and 1.67% respectively.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were mostly higher on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in Glencore (LON:GLEN) edged up 0.10% and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) gained 0.73%, while Randgold (LON:RRS) ressources advanced 0.84%.
U.K. markets were jittery after the Bank of England on Thursday cut its growth forecast for the second quarter to 0.3%, compared to the prior estimate of a 0.5% expansion.
For 2016, the central bank lowered its estimate for growth to 2.0%, from the prior 2.2%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.49% drop, S&P 500 futures a 0.50% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.57% loss.