European Stocks Bear Highest Weekly Loss since Late February

European stocks maintained a downward trend on Friday, with the banking and energy stocks leading the losses following the hawkish change in tone by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which prompted concerns about raising interest rates sooner than expected.

The STOXX Europe 600 index plunged by 1.58% as it closed at 452.05 points, turning to a weekly loss of 1.19%.

Today marked the biggest daily decline for the pan-European index since May 11.

Not only is this the worst weekly loss for the index since February 26, but it has also ended a four-week rising streak.

Meanwhile, the EURO STOXX 50 Index fell by 1.05% for the week.

The UK’s FTSE100 index ended the week lower by 1.63%. The main index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany, DAX, registered a weekly decline of 1.56%, while the French CAC40 index lost 0.48%.