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Stocks across Europe dived into the weekend

plunge dive
plunge dive

Reuters/Tony Gentile

Stocks all over Europe dived Friday, as markets took a cautious approach and investors took profit after US stocks hit record highs Thursday evening.

"A risk-off tone took hold at the end of the week with investors fleeing stocks and seeking the safety of gold. A stunning 10-day run of record closes in the Dow Jones was probably a cue in itself for global markets to give a little back. The last time the Dow had such a winning streak was 1987, the year that saw Black Monday, the biggest one-day market crash in history," Jasper Lawler from London Capital Group wrote in an email earlier in the afternoon.

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By mid-afternoon most major bourses across the continent were lower by more than 1%, and while the majority pulled a little higher into the close, losses were still substantial

Germany's DAX led the way, down more than 1.2%. All but three of the country's top 30 stocks dropped on Friday, with its second largest bank, Commerzbank, one of the bigger losers, down 2.92%.

Here is the DAX at the European close:

Screen Shot 2017 02 24 at 16.46.20
Screen Shot 2017 02 24 at 16.46.20

Investing.com

And here is the Europe-wide scoreboard:

Screen Shot 2017 02 24 at 16.48.25
Screen Shot 2017 02 24 at 16.48.25

Investing.com

Britain's FTSE 100 was actually one of the better performing indexes, losing just 0.33% to close at 7,247 points. Royal Bank of Scotland was the biggest drag on the index, losing close to 4.5% after announcing its ninth consecutive year of losses.

The bank, which is 73% state-owned, said in its full year financial results statement that it lost £6.955 billion in 2016, compared with £1,979 million in 2015.

Losses were expected, so the fall was largely priced in, as reflected by the perhaps smaller than expected drop the group's share price on Friday.

Here is the chart:

Screen Shot 2017 02 24 at 16.49.53
Screen Shot 2017 02 24 at 16.49.53

Investing.com

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