Banks push European stocks to a 7-week low by Reuters

© Archyde.com. A screen showing German DAX data at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Friday. Photo by Archyde.com.

(Archyde.com) – European stocks fell to a seven-week low on Friday, as financial stocks led a general decline in the market following a warning from a US bank raised concerns regarding the resilience of the sector’s balance sheets in the face of rising interest rates.

The index of European stocks closed down 1.4 percent on Friday, bringing its weekly losses to 2.3 percent, which is the largest weekly loss recorded this year so far.

The banking sector index fell 3.8 percent, its biggest daily loss in nine months.

HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, UniCredit and Commerzbank fell between 2.6% and 7.4%.

The wave of selling began due to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank to collect new liquidity following losing $1.8 billion when it sold a package of bonds to meet its depositors’ liquidity demands.

(Prepared by Mahmoud Abdel-Gawad for the Arabic Bulletin – Edited by Mahmoud Salama)