EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Face Worst Week In 9 Months On U.S.-North Korea Tensions

Oil stocks key off losses for oil prices

European stocks were shoved lower Friday, heading for their worst weekly loss in nine months, as the war of words between the U.S. and North Korea prompted investors to back away from assets perceived as risky.

The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 1.1% to 372.04. No sector moved higher. Oil and gas , tech and basic material shares were losing the most.

For the week, the index was on course to fall 2.7% and that would mark the worst week since early November 2016 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-face-worst-week-in-9-months-rattled-by-political-risk-2016-11-04), just before the U.S. presidential election.

Germany's DAX 30 on Friday was off 0.6% to 11,942.39. The index on Thursday briefly dipped below 12,000 for the first time since April.

"It could be another rough day for European equities. The DAX is flirting with support at the 200-day moving average just above 11,950 and another bout of risk aversion is likely to see this breached, if the falls in Asia overnight are anything to go on," said Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital.

Read:Dalio urges investors to buy gold to hedge against possible war with North Korea (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dalio-urges-investors-to-buy-gold-to-hedge-against-possible-war-with-north-korea-2017-08-10)

Korea's Kospi dropped 1.7%, cementing a weekly loss of 3.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 2% on Friday. U.S. stock futures are modestly lower ahead of Friday's session.

European equities extended losses Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday warned that his threat on Tuesday to unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea "maybe wasn't tough enough." Trump's comments came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made an explicit threat to strike a U.S. military base in Guam (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/north-korea-threatens-missile-strike-on-us-base-on-guam-2017-08-08).

China weighed in on the standoff late Thursday, saying in an editorial in state-run Global Times (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1060791.shtml) that Beijing will intervene if the U.S. strikes first against North Korea.

Read:Opinion: What to do with stocks if the U.S. and North Korea go to war (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-to-do-with-stocks-if-the-us-and-north-korea-go-to-war-2017-08-10)

Oil stocks were feeling the additional weight of lower oil prices , which were down about 1%. Shares of oil producer Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) sank 5.2% and offshore energy services contractor SBM Offshore NV (SBMO.AE) was down 4%. The International Energy Agency said in its monthly report that global oil production rose in July, but it also upwardly revised its 2017 forecast for demand growth.

In other developments, Novozymes A/S shares (NZYM-B.KO) were off 3.6% after the Danish biotech firm cut its growth outlook.

National indexes: France's CAC 40 index fell 0.7% to 5,077.97, and in London, the FTSE 100 flopped down 0.9% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-heads-for-1-month-low-as-trump-ups-the-ante-in-north-korea-standoff-2017-08-11) to 7,326.09. The shared currency was buying $1.1758, down from $1.774 late Thursday in New York.

Read:These are the stocks to buy--and avoid--as the euro rallies (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-are-the-stocks-to-buyand-avoidas-the-euro-rallies-2017-08-11)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 11, 2017 05:02 ET (09:02 GMT)