European stocks were trading lower on Friday with banks taking a beating after news of a large fine for Deutsche Bank and as global markets look to next week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee.
Shares of Deutsche Bank were trading 7.7 percent lower – making it the worst performer on the Stoxx 600 index – after the U.S. Department of Justice asked the German lender to pay $14 billion to settle allegations of mis-selling mortgage securities.
The news hit other banking stocks which analysts say could face similar claims from the U.S.; RBS was trading 4.3 percent lower, Commerzbank was down 1.75 percent, Barclays down 2.1 percent and UBS was down 2.3 percent.
Carmaker Fiat Chrysler was trading 2.2 percent lower following news that it was recalling 1.9 million cars worldwide for an air bag defect, Reuters reported.
Shares of Apple saw what could be their best week in five years thanks to strong demand worldwide for the latest model. The iPhone maker’s stock was up 12 percent for the week and it posted its first four-day winning streak with consecutive gains over 2 percent since April 2009.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve continues to dominate market sentiment. The central bank’s policy makers are meeting on September 20, although the chances of a rate hike are slim following a deluge of disappointing U.S. data on Thursday.
Initial jobless claims came in at 260,000, slightly below expectations, while August PPI came in unchanged, also missing expectations. Retail sales for August missed expectations, falling more than expected. Meanwhile, industrial production fell 0.4 percent in August, more than the expected 0.3 percent slide.
Market expectations for a rate hike by the Fed next week are just 12 percent after Thursday’s data release, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday as the prospect of a rate hike dwindled.
Markets will be keeping a close eye on the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August on Friday.
Elsewhere, 27 European Union (EU) leaders are meeting in Bratislava to discuss issues affecting the region including the U.K.’s decision to leave the bloc, security and growth opportunities.
On the data front, Russia publishes its latest interest rate decision.
CNBC
