European stocks open lower, and Siemens Energy shares plunge

European stocks opened lower on Friday at the end of a week marked by a lot of monetary policy decisions from central banks, which supported views that interest rates may remain high for a longer period, while Siemens Energy plunged after the company withdrew its annual profit forecast.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.3 percent by 0713 GMT.

The index has lost 2.8 percent since the start of the week as investors digest the impact of more interest rate hikes from major central banks and the possibility that inflation will remain high for a longer period.

The German DAX index fell 0.7 percent, and led the losses among the region’s indices, with a sharp drop in Siemens Energy’s stock, amounting to 30.3 percent.

The company, which supplies equipment and services to the electric power sector, warned that the impact of quality problems in its wind turbine unit would last for years.

The European oil and gas index fell 1.7 percent, leading the declines in the sub-sectors on the European index.