LONDON – Europe’s major markets lost ground in mid-morning trading on Friday, with the exception of the FTSE MIB in Milan, which was flat at 19,449.32.
The DAX in Frankfurt and the FTSE 100 in London both slid 0.4 percent to 12,012.63 and to 7,356.46, respectively. The CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.1 percent to 4,957.28.
The euro traded at $1.05, while the pound fetched $1.23 and the Swiss franc equaled $0.99 at 10:20 a.m. CET.
Retail and luxury stocks were also in retreat, with the morning’s biggest fallers including Zalando, 2.7 percent to 36.15 euros; Aeffe, 3.1 percent to 1.34 euros; Geox, 4.7 percent to 1.96 euros, and Boohoo.com, 1.4 percent to 1.54 pounds.
Among the few stocks to gain ground were French Connection, 0.9 percent to 0.35 pounds, and Jimmy Choo, 0.7 percent to 1.58 pounds after the company reported a double-digit uptick in adjusted consolidated net income in the 12 months to Dec. 31, 2016.