LONDON — European stocks opened lower Friday after clocking losses in four straight sessions this week.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.32% at 8:09 a.m. in London as nearly all sectors moved lower.
After closing last week at a record high, the Stoxx 600 has tumbled nearly 2.5% in its worst performance since the early August sell-off.
A slew of data from the U.S. has come in weaker than expected, including manufacturing surveys, jobs openings and private sector payrolls, fueling market bets that the Federal Reserve will cut by 50 rather than 25 basis points at its Sept. 18 meeting. CME Group’s FedWatch tool last put the probability of a 50 basis point cut at 41%.
Friday will see the release of the closely watched August jobs report, as investors assess the scale of the slowdown in the world’s largest economy.
The economic data has also led to a rough start to September for U.S. stocks, with futures trading mixed in the early hours.
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In Europe, investors are monitoring news that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has ordered inspections of the Rolls-Royce manufactured engines on Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, used by numerous airlines. That comes after a Cathay Pacific A350 flight from Hong Kong to Zurich was forced to land because of a fire in the fuel system, triggering a fleet-wide inspection and the replacement of numerous engine parts.
Next week, U.K. employment and wage data and economic growth figures will be released, and the next monetary policy meeting for the European Central Bank will take place following its summer break.
The ECB is widely expected to resume the path of interest rate cuts following a pause in July.
