BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks fell sharply on Friday, as signs of surging U.S. inflation added to pressure on the Federal Reserve to hike rates aggressively.
Overnight data showed U.S. consumer prices surged an annual 7.5 percent last month, marking the biggest annual increase in inflation in 40 years.
Hawkish comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard also weighed on sentiment.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Bullard said the data had made him 'dramatically' more hawkish and he would prefer a 50-bps rate hike in March and wants a full percentage point of interest rate hikes by July 1.
The benchmark CAC 40 fell 74 points, or over 1 percent, to 7,028 after losing 0.4 percent in the previous session.
Electric utility EDF tumbled nearly 4 percent after cutting its estimate for its French nuclear output in 2023.
French TV group TF1 advanced 1.5 percent after reporting a rise in full-year advertising revenue and profit.
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