European stocks closed lower on Friday as investors monitored economic data, corporate earnings and the spread of the delta Covid-19 variant.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the session down 0.3%, with miners tumbling 2.8% to lead losses as the majority of sectors and major bourses finished in the red. The benchmark was down about 0.7% on the week, having hit a record high on Monday.
Euro zone inflation slowed in June, official data confirmed on Friday, with consumer prices rising 1.9% annually after a 2% climb in May, marking the first slowdown since September 2020.
A surge in Covid-19 cases across the continent caused by the highly-transmissible delta variant continues to weigh on investor sentiment, with several major European countries forced to reimplement social restrictions, while the U.K. will take the gamble of removing its last layer of safeguards from Monday.
The U.K. reported 51,870 new coronavirus cases Friday, marking the first time since mid-January that daily infections have risen above 50,000.
Reference: CNBC
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