BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed weak on Friday,
with several major markets falling to multi-week or multi-month lows, amid
uncertainty about interest rates, and political tensions in Europe.

Political uncertainty in France weighed after the country's finance chief warned
that a new left-wing coalition coming to power in France would lead to the
country's exit from the European Union.

Elsewhere, Nigel Farage's Reform UK has surpassed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's
Conservatives in a YouGov poll.

The poll for the Times newspaper puts Reform UK at 19 percent, up from 17
percent previously, and the Conservative Party unchanged at 18 percent in voting
intention.

Investors also digested the latest batch of European and U.S. economic data.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.97%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down by 0.21%,
Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 tumbled 1.44% and 2.66%, respectively.
Switzerland's SMI closed lower by 0.42%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland,
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed with sharp to moderate
losses.

Denmark, Poland, Russia and Turkiye ended higher.

Bank stocks fell as the risk premium on French bonds hit a four-year high on
concerns about the political situation in the country.

France's finance minister has warned that the country could plunge into a debt
crisis similar to one sparked in the U.K. two years ago if far-right leader
Marine Le Pen were to win legislative elections slated for the end of the month.

Ratings agency S&P Global, which recently downgraded the country, said policies
advocated by the party could have implications for the credit rating.

In the UK market, Burberry Group, Melrose Industries, BAE Systems, Rentokil
Initial, Intertek Group, Kingfisher, Entain, Barratt Developments, Weir Group,
Spirax Group and Rolls-Roye Holdings lost 2 to 4.3%.

BT Group shares rallied about 3.4%. Tesco climbed 2.6% after reporting a
'robust' surge in grocery purchases by U.K. shoppers in the most recent quarter.

Sage Group, Airtel Africa, Ocado Group, Unite Group, Centrica, Fresnillo and
National Grid gained 1 to 2.5%.

Crest Nicholson shares jumped 8.5%. The embattled housebuilder has rebuffed a
second all-share takeover approach from its larger rival Bellway.

In the German market, Continental ended more than 6% down. Rheinmetall ended
lower by about 5.2%. Commerzbank, Infineon, Puma, Siemens, Daimler Truck
Holding, Deutsche Post and BASF lost 2 to 4.1%.

Henkel, Hannover Rueck, Zalando, MTU Aero Engines, SAP, BMW, RWE, Fresenius and
HeidelbergCement also declined sharply.

Sartorius, Deutsche Boerse, Vonovia, E.ON, Symrise and Beiersdorf closed notably
lower.

In the French market, Thales, AXA, Veolia, Teleperformance, Saint-Gobain and
Stellantis lost 4 to 6.5%

Kering, Credit Agricole, Schneider Electric, Legrand, Renault, Societe Generale,
STMicroElectronics, Accor, Michelin, Publicis Groupe, Safran, BNP Paribas,
Hermes International, LVMH, Edenred, Vinci and Essilor lost 2 to 4%.

In economic releases, France's consumer price index climbed 2.3% on a yearly
basis in May, faster than the 2.2% increase seen in April, final data from the
statistical office INSEE showed. The rate for May was revised up from 2.2
percent.

The slight increase in inflation resulted from higher prices of energy and food.
Energy prices grew at a faster pace of 5.7% due to base effect.

Britons' short-term inflation expectations softened in May, the quarterly
Inflation Attitudes Survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the Bank of England
showed.

The one-year ahead inflation expectations fell to 2.6% from 2.8% in February.
Respondents assessed the current inflation at 5.5% compared to 6.1% in the
previous survey period.

Preliminary data from Eurostat showed Euro area's non-seasonally adjusted trade
balance showed a surplus of EUR 15.0 billion for April. Economists had expected
a surplus of EUR 17.0 billion.

The trade surplus decreased from March's EUR 23.7 billion due to a rise in the
energy trade deficit from EUR 23.7 billion to EUR 26.2 billion. Meanwhile, the
surplus for chemicals trade shrunk from EUR 23.4 billion from EUR 21.2 billion.



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