European stocks lower on fresh E.Z. worries; DAX down 0.52%

Investing.com - European stocks opened lower on Friday, as concerns over the outlook for economic growth in the euro zone weighed on market sentiment, while hopes for fresh action by the European Central Bank to stimulate the economy began to fade.

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.90%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.74%, while Germany’s DAX 30 retreated 0.52%.

Sentiment remained under pressure, after the ECB on Thursday revised down its forecast for economic growth to 0.6% in 2013, down from 1% previously and forecast a 0.3% contraction in growth this year, slightly worse than its previous forecast of for a 0.2% contraction.

The revisions added to concerns over a global economic slowdown, after official data showed earlier that China's trade surplus narrowed unexpectedly in July, dropping to USD25.1 billion from a USD31.7 billion surplus.

In addition, optimism that the ECB will soon move to cut high Spanish and Italian borrowing costs faded as investors waited for more details of the bank’s proposed bond buying program to emerge.

Financial stocks were broadly lower, led by Spain's BBVA and Banco Santander, down 0.51% and 0.55% respectively.

French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas also retreated 0.05% and 0.24%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank lost 0.31% and 1.79%.

Separately, Societe Generale agreed to sell its Los Angeles-based TCW Group asset management unit to Carlyle Group LP.

On the upside, ThyssenKrupp surged 3.19%, after Germany’s biggest steelmaker said net income from continuing operations increased 16% to EUR238 million in the fiscal third quarter from a year earlier, posting its first quarterly profit after three consecutive losses.

In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 fell 0.23%, weighed by sharp losses in mining stocks.

Vedanta Ressources dropped 0.81%, while BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto saw shares decline 0.08% and 0.37%.

Meanwhile, financial stocks were mixed. Shares in HSBC Holdings dropped 0.38% and Lloyds Banking eased 0.06%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays advanced 0.29% and 0.97% respectively.

Bloomberg reported earlier that Barclays named former Bank of England executive director David Walker as chairman, in its first move to replace leaders ousted following the Libor scandal.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.39% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.43% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.32% loss.

Also Friday, official data showed that industrial production in France was unexpectedly flat in June, disappointing expectations for a 0.4% rise and following a downwarldy revised 2.1% decline the previous month.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on import prices.