European markets close lower, with autos stocks leading the decline; Stoxx 600 drops 1.4%

• Despite record inflation levels across the euro zone, the European Central Bank maintained interest rates on Thursday.
• Since 2004, the Bank of England has raised interest rates in consecutive sessions.
• New car sales in the U.K. last month were 23% lower than pre-pandemic levels, resulting in a 3.8% decline in autos stocks.

On Friday, Europe's stock markets ended in the red as investors processed the significant information released by the Bank of England and the European Central Bank the day before.

The oil and gas sector was the only positive sector among the pan-European provisionally closed 1.42%.

New car sales in the U.K. last month were 23% lower than pre-pandemic levels, resulting in a 3.34% decline in autos stocks.

Despite record inflation in the euro zone, the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Bank of England raised rates in its first back-to-back increase since 2004. On Friday, major European bourses, including the French index and Germany's, fell into negative territory, with the German index losing 1.8%.

Despite record-high inflation of 5.1% in the most recent reading, the ECB resisted pressure to raise rates. Christine Lagarde, the central bank's president, stated on Thursday that although inflation is expected to remain elevated for a longer period, it will ease throughout 2022.

On Thursday, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey stated that there is a possibility that the BoE will increase interest rates once more, following its recent hike of the main interest rate to 0.5% in an attempt to control rising inflation in the U.K., which reached a 30-year high in January.

The continent's fresh economic data is being evaluated by investors, as retail sales in the euro zone decreased by 3% month-on-month in December but increased by 2% year-on-year.

While German industrial orders increased by 2.8% in December compared to the previous month, French industrial output decreased by 0.2% between November and December.

In January, the Labor Department reported that U.S. nonfarm payrolls unexpectedly increased by 467,000, while the unemployment rate simultaneously rose to 4%.

Stocks on the move

Swedish manufacturer gained 6.98% after publishing a strong 2021 full-year earnings report.

Lenders and oil giants both moved up in the index, with gains of 4.9% and 7.09% respectively, while both oil giants gained more than 3%.

Despite posting a 59% growth in earnings for 2021, Swedish medtech company was down by 26.3% at the other end of the Stoxx 600. The company announced on Thursday that its CEO, Kristina Willgard, would step down this year.