European stocks closed slightly lower, halting the strong momentum for equities from the week as markets took profits and continued to assess risks to the European corporate outlook from pending tariffs by the US. The Eurozone’s STOXX 50 lost 0.3% to close at 5,400 and the pan-European STOXX 600 pulled back 0.4% to 542.
Consumer discretionary extended their volatile momentum to record losses, with LVMH and Kering dropping 2% and 3%, while L’Oreal slumped 3.3%.
In turn, healthcare continued to decline as US President Trump was due to pass policy to cap drug prices, with Sanofi and Bayer losing 1% and 2%, respectively.
On the other hand, banks closed firmly higher with Santander, UniCredit, and ING gaining over 1%.
In the UK, Burberry soared 8.9% following the announcement of several organizational changes.