BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were broadly lower on Friday as investors fretted over new coronavirus restrictions and the potential impact on economic growth.
Authorities have warned of tougher times in Spain as the country's cumulative tally of confirmed coronavirus infections passed 700,000 on Thursday.
The U.K. reported the highest number of new coronavirus cases in a single day since the start of the pandemic.
France also reported a record number of Covid-19 cases, a day after the government announced new restrictions on bars and restaurants in major cities.
The pan European Stoxx 600 was marginally lower at 355.75 after declining 1 percent in the previous session.
The German DAX slipped half a percent and France's CAC 40 index shed 0.6 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was little changed in choppy trade.
Travel-related stocks were falling again, with British Airways operator International Consolidated Airlines falling 5 percent, Ryanair Holdings losing 4.5 percent and easyJet declining 2.4 percent.
Air France KLM shares fell over 4 percent, Accor SA declined 1.3 percent and Deutsche Lufthansa plunged 5 percent.
Wizz Air Holdings lost about 2 percent. The low-cost carrier said it now expects to operate 50 percent of capacity in October compared to last year.
Spanish telephone operator MasMovil edged up slightly after reports that Vodafone has begun talks to acquire the company. Shares of the latter were little changed.
Real estate investment trust Shaftesbury rallied 2.2 percent after issuing a trading update for the period 1 April 2020 to 24 September 2020.
Retailer Mothercare surged 26 percent after it reported a narrowed pretax loss for fiscal 2020.
BMW declined 1.7 percent. The Securities and Exchange Commission said it settled charges against the German automaker and two of its U.S. subsidiaries for disclosing inaccurate information about the company's retail sales volume in the U.S. while raising approximately $18 billion from investors in several corporate bond offering.
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