Auto stocks drive Europe lower, BMW slumps -3%

The European equities fell on the final trading day of the week, as mixed corporate news added to the already persisting risk-off conditions and dampened investors’ sentiment further.

The stocks on the European bourses opened on a weaker footing, taking the negative lead from its Asian counterparts and extended losses as the bulls failed to cheer upbeat German GDP data against a backdrop of a tad softer CPI print from the Eurozone’s economic power house, Germany.

More so, heavy declines seen in the auto and energy sector stocks act as a drag on the region’s indices, with the German carmaker BMW weighing heavily on the German equities. Germany's BMW shares plunged 3.56%, despite reporting 11.7% sales growth in April. Renault slipped 2% in Paris, while Peugeot traded modestly flat%.

Meanwhile, Germany's DAX 30 index drops -0.80% to 9,780, while the UK's FTSE 100 index trades -0.56% lower at 6,070. Among the other indices, the French CAC 40 index loses -0.71% to 4,262, while the pan-European benchmark, the Euro Stoxx 50 index drops -0.79% to 2,911 points.