Europe markets slip as UK avoids recession

LONDON: European stock markets opened lower Friday after falls elsewhere, but losses were capped by news that the UK economy narrowly avoided recession.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index shed 0.2 percent to 7,893.99 points compared with Thursday’s closing level.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX index dipped 0.4 percent to 15,468.63 points and the Paris CAC 40 slid 0.1 percent to 7,179.08.

Britain’s economy registered zero growth in the final three months of last year, after shrinking 0.3 percent in the prior three months, official data showed.

European stocks mixed at open

The technical definition of a recession is two quarters of negative growth in a row.

“The UK has dodged … recession by a hair’s breadth,” noted AJ Bell analyst Laura Suter.