Investing.com - European markets moved lower on Friday, despite upbeat economic reports from France and Germany, as fresh geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and North Korea dampened market sentiment around the globe.
The EURO STOXX 50 dipped 0.04%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.25%, while Germany’s DAX 30 was down 0.08% by 03:45 a.m. ET (07:45 GMT).
Sentiment was hit after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Friday that Pyongyang will consider the "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history" against the U.S. in response to President Donald Trump's threat to destroy the country.
Shortly after, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said his country could conduct a hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific Ocean of an unprecedented scale.
In his first speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said "the United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself and its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."
Investors seemed to shrug off data released earlier Friday by research group Markit showing that manufacturing and service sector activity in Germany and in France expanded more than expected this month.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) rose 0.24% and 0.46%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) declined 0.66% and 0.64%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) dipped 0.01% and 0.06% respectively, while Banco Santander (MC:SAN) eased up 0.05% and BBVA (MC:BBVA) retreated 0.36% in Spain.
Elsewhere, Deutsche Lufthansa AG (DE:LHAG) shares tumbled 1.60% as the German airline company is expected to get a large part of AirBerlin, filed for insolvency in August. UK rival easyJet (LON:EZJ) is also still in the race for getting some assets.
In London, FTSE 100 fell 0.27%, as investors were eyeing a speech from UK Prime Minister Theresa May scheduled later in the trading session.
Reports earlier in the week suggested that the UK would be ready to pay €20 billion for a two-year transition period after Brexit.
Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) was one of the worst performers on the index, with shares down 4.09% after the engineering company reported pretax profits of £528 million for the full year ended Jul 31, up 17% year-on-year.
The group also reported an 11% increase in operating profit to £589 million.
Mining stocks added to losses, as Glencore (LON:GLEN) declined 1.33% and Anglo American (LON:AAL) plummeted 1.69%, while rivals Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) retreated 1.79% and 2.27% respectively.
In the financial sector, stocks were broadly on the downside. Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) edged down 0.19% and HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) dropped 0.51%, while Barclays (LON:BARC) lost 0.97% and Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) tumbled 1.04%.
Meanwhile, shares in Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) jumped 1.03% after the chemicals specialist announced on Thursday plans to invest £200 million in bringing to market a cobalt-free battery material it claims will cut the cost and increase the range of electric vehicles.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.17% slip, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.19% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.31% decline.