By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks fell Friday, with oil
stocks hit hard in the wake of a decision by the Organization of
the Petroleum Exporting Countries not to cut its oil-production
target.
Investors also assessed a fresh round of economic data from
Germany, France and Italy ahead of the release of key eurozone
inflation at 10 a.m. London time, or 5 a.m. Eastern Time. Read:
These 5 charts show how much Europe needs QE.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.5% to 345.80 as the oil and
gas group lost 4.1%. The slide was triggered after OPEC on Thursday
held to its production target of 30 million barrels a day,
disappointing those investors who had been looking for the cartel
to reduce output, in an effort to stop a recent drop in global oil
prices.
U.S. crude-oil futures on Friday (CLF5) fell nearly 7% to trade
below $69 a barrel, and Brent crude futures lost 1.1% to $71.77 a
barrel.
Shares of energy-engineering company Weir Group PLC were the
worst performing on the Stoxx 600 as they were yanked 8% lower. Oil
producer BG Group PLC gave up 7.6%, and Tullow Oil PLC fell
5.2%.
Also, Total SA fell 3.8%, Royal Dutch Shell PLC was down 3.3% and BP PLC fell 3.1%.
On Thursday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in
Helsinki said policy makers expect the recent slide in oil prices
to contribute to keeping inflation "at around current low levels
over the coming months, before increasing gradually during 2015 and
2016."
Eurozone-wide inflation data are expected to show consumer
prices grew by 0.3% this month.
The Stoxx 600 was in line for a 3% rise for the month, and a
0.4% gain for the week.
On the currency market, the Russian ruble (USDRUB) fell to new
lows Friday following OPEC's production decision, as Russia takes
in roughly 50% of its revenue from exporting oil and gas. The
dollar was buying 49.727 rubles compared with 48.795 rubles late
Thursday.
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