Investing.com - European stocks slipped lower on Friday, as expectations for fresh easing measures by the European Central Bank lost some steam after sending European equities sharply higher in the previous session.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 declined 0.74%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.12%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 0.08%.
Equity markets strengthened after data on Wednesday showed that the annual rate of euro zone inflation fell by 0.2% in December, down from 0.3% in November. It was the first fall in the annual rate of inflation since October 2009.
The decline in consumer prices added to expectations that the ECB could implement quantitative easing as soon as its next meeting on January 22. Late last week ECB President Mario Draghi said the risk of it not fulfilling its mandate of price stability is higher now than six months ago.
Earlier Friday, data showed that French industrial production fell 0.3% in November, compared to expectations for a 0.3% rise. October's figure was revised to a 0.7% decline from a previously estimated 0.8% drop.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) lost 1.56% and 0.18%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) declined 0.62% and 0.82%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) and Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) plunged 2.15% and 2.65% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) dove 1.55% and 10.82%.
On Thursday, Santander Chairman Ana Botin drew backing from investors to raise €7.5 billion euros in new funds.
In London, FTSE 100 edged down 0.08%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower.
Shares in HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) dropped 0.90% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) retreated 0.94%, while Barclays (LONDON:BARC) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) plummeted 1.28% and 1.75% respectively.
Tesco (LONDON:TSCO) added to losses, with shares down 1.18% after the retailer's stock was cut to "junk" by Moody's late Thursday.
The same day, Chief Executive Officer Dave Lewis had announced his plan for reviving the struggling retailer, including dozens of store closures and the possible disposal of assets worth billions of pounds.
In the mining sector, stocks were also broadly lower as Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) declined 0.66% and Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) tumbled 1.03%, while rival company Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) lost 1.14%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a mixed open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.09% loss, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.12% fall, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.10% gain.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report, and data on wage growth.