ROME: European stocks fell Friday on a fresh tumble in commodity prices and another batch of lackluster earnings on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Stoxx Europe 600 ended the session 0.9% lower, taking losses this week to more than 2.5%.
Stocks rallied last week and into this week on relief around Greece’s bailout deal and diminished volatility in China’s stock market, but investors may have overreacted, said Ian Williams, analyst and economist at brokerage Peel Hunt.
“The jury is still out as to whether European earnings are going to live up to expectations, and considering that stocks prices had risen quite a lot, there’s a lot of nervousness,” he said.
Any shock to markets could therefore lead to a selloff, which may also be exacerbated by thin summer trading volumes in Europe, he said.
