European stocks slipped on Friday, with losses for travel and leisure stocks, even as economic data showed the single-currency area was seeing a growth pickup.
The Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP,
Shares of Tencent fell 2.6% in Hong Kong, the first loss in three sessions and following a 10% rebound on Thursday. The tech company was reportedly ordered by the Chinese government on Friday to fix problems including pop-up ads and data storage. The country’s ongoing crackdown on specifically Internet and tech companies has rattled investors.
Tencent shares have lost nearly 18% for July, its worth monthly performance since October 2018, according to FactSet research. Prosus shares have dropped 9%, the worst monthly performance for the company that went public in September 2019.
Of the major regional indexes, the German DAX
DAX,
On the economic front, data revealed there region pulling out of a double-dip recession in the second quarter with better-than-expected gross domestic product of 2% over the previous quarter. Still, Germany’s economic growth fell short of expectations.
Other data showed the annual rate of inflation in July in the eurozone exceeding the 2% target set by the European Central Bank for the first time in almost three years, with consumer prices rising 2.2% annually, the fastest rate of growth since October 2018, according to preliminary Eurostast data.
Elsewhere, data showed the eurozone jobless rate fell to 7.7% in June from a revised figure of 8.0% in May.