(Reuters) – European stocks opened lower on Friday, putting them on track for their sharpest weekly decline since a brutal selloff in March, as a new round of coronavirus lockdowns weighed on economic growth expectations.
An underwhelming response to Wall Street’s big tech earnings overnight also hit sentiment, with Europe’s tech sector .SXTP down 0.8%.
Apple suppliers AMS AMS.S, Dialog Semiconductor DLGS.DE and Infineon Technologies IFXGn.DE fell between 0.6% and 1.6% after the late launch of new 5G iPhones caused customers to put off buying new devices.
Air France-KLM AIRF.PA fell 4.0% after it unveiled a 1.05 billion-euro ($1.24 billion) quarterly operating loss and warned of worse to come as a resurgent coronavirus brings new travel curbs.
Among gainers, French construction materials group Saint-Gobain SGOB.PA rose 3.9% after improved full-year earnings forecast.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX fell 0.6% by 0814 GMT, on course for a more than 6% weekly loss in what could be its worst such decline since an 18% plunge in mid-March.
Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila