Europe shares fall on geopolitical tensions; Russian stocks down(ZT)

 
European shares continued a volatile week on Friday, trading lower ahead of a referendum this weekend in Crimea as concerns still linger over China's growth.


FTSE FTSE 100 Index 6527.95 
  
-25.83 -0.39% 256850498 
DAX DAX Index 8958.58 
  
-59.21 -0.66% 57248649 
CAC 40 CAC 40 Index 4208.96 
  
-41.55 -0.98% 60169621 
IBEX 35 IBEX 35 Idx 9771.1 
  
-179.20 -1.80% 179402863 


Crimea referendum nears

The Euro Stoxx 600 Index tipped into the red once more on Friday with all major bourses and sectors posting losses. The pan-European benchmark was on course for its second consecutive weekly drop and the worst percentage loss seen since late January. 

Tensions around Ukraine dominated markets as diplomatic efforts are expected to generate plenty of headlines ahead of Sunday's referendum. Russian stocks opened the session down 2.5 percent but losses accelerated in morning trade with the MICEX seeing declines of around 5 percent by 8:00 a.m. London time. In Asia on Friday, Japan's' Nikkei slid 3.3 percent and fell by more than 500 points. It was on track for its worst week since August. 

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine's interim prime minister, spoke in front of the United Nations on Thursday urging Russia for negotiations to end the standoff. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of a "catastrophe" if Russia does not drop its plans to annex Crimea.
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said if Russia goes through with the referendum in Crimea on Sunday, the U.S. and the West will respond with a "serious series of steps." Russia, meanwhile, was carrying out military exercises near the Ukraine border. 

"One thing is for sure, traders would be foolish to make the mistake they made two weeks ago and go home long into the weekend, particularly with the situation on the ground in Ukraine so potentially fluid, and the Crimea referendum vote due on Sunday," Michael Hewson, a chief market analyst at CMC Markets said in a morning note. 



As well as tensions in the eastern European country, the Chinese growth story continues to weigh on global stocks. The world's second-largest economy released weaker-than-expected February retail sales and industrial output figures on Thursday, fueling worries about the health of China's economy. There was also news of China's central bank halting certain types of mobile payments which pulled down online payment related companies. Mainland shares put up a sluggish performance on Friday, closing lower by around 1 percent.

'Ridiculous' that pubs taxed more than supermarkets: Wetherspoons CEO

Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon, says the "tax disparity" between supermarkets and pubs in the U.K. is "ridiculous".


German inflation meets expectations

German inflation data on Friday managed to meet expectations, with consumer prices showing a month-on-month rise of 0.5 percent and a year-on-year rise of 1.2 percent in February. Figures for employment in the euro zone rose for the first time in nearly three years in the last quarter, according to Eurostat. The reading came in at 0.1 percent compared to the quarter before.

In stocks news, shares of French industrial company Lafarge fell 2.4 percent after Berenberg cuts its outlook on the firm to a "sell" from a "hold".

Finnish retail group Kesko also saw selling after reporting sales fell 2.5 percent in February.