European stocks fell on Friday and were set for a weekly drop on fears of elevated global interest rates. <\/p>\n
U.K. markets<\/span> were seeing modest gains, and the British pound extended a multi-week decline, a day after the Bank of England held rates steady for the first time since November 2021.<\/p>\n Eurozone government bond yields slipped after a survey showed that the euro zone economy<\/span> will likely contract in the third quarter.<\/p>\n The flash UK flash composite purchasing managers’ index fell to a 32-month low of 46.8 points in September while the latest readings on U.K. retail sales and consumer confidence painted a positive picture of the economy. <\/p>\n The pan European STOXX 600 was down 0.3 percent at 453.14 after falling 1.3 percent on Thursday. <\/p>\n The German DAX dropped 0.3 percent and France’s CAC 40 shed 0.7 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.4 percent. <\/p>\n AstraZeneca rallied nearly 2 percent in London after announcing it found favorable results in a trail for a common type of breast cancer.<\/p>\n Infant and young children’s retailer Mothercare soared 20 percent after saying it expects to complete a refinancing shortly.<\/p>\n