Europe: Stocks drop at open

[LONDON] European stock markets slid at the start of trading on Friday as a rally inspired by the US interest rate hike petered out heading into the weekend break.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 0.8 per cent to 6,056.9 points compared with Thursday's close.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 0.9 per cent to 10,639.9 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 1.0 per cent to 4,629.6.

Europe's main indices had rallied Thursday, led by Frankfurt which closed up 2.6 per cent, after the US Federal Reserve ended months of uncertainty by raising interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.

"While Wednesday's Fed rate hike removed one cloud of uncertainty from the markets... speculation about when the next one is likely to occur is not expected to remain too far away," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at trading group CMC Markets UK.

The Fed raised its benchmark federal funds rate, locked near zero since the 2008 financial crisis, by a quarter point to 0.25-0.50 per cent, saying the US economy is growing solidly.

AFP