By Khushi Singh and Amruta Khandekar
(Reuters) -European shares dipped on Friday as risk sentiment remained subdued due to mounting concerns the Federal Reserve may delay interest rate cuts, though strength in telecommunications stocks helped stem losses.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.2% lower after touching record highs in three of the past five sessions.
The STOXX 600 clocked its eighth consecutive week of gains, supported by an array of upbeat corporate updates and expectations of interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank.
Market participants are drawing relief from the recent slowdown in inflation in the euro zone, with some European Central Bank policymakers backing a June rate cut.
"With inflation on track to reach its target in the second half of the year, the ECB will cut its deposit rate from 4% to 3% by year-end and to around 2.25% by the middle of 2025," said Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics in a note.
Meanwhile, hotter-than-expected inflation data from the United States earlier this week has muddied the Fed's monetary policy path.
"Investors are now thinking that rate relief may arrive in July rather than June, with expectations nearing coin-flip odds for the earlier month," Jose Torres, Senior Economist at Interactive Brokers said.
The rate-sensitive real estate index led losses with a 2.0% decline on Friday and was also the worst sectoral performer for the week.
The index was also weighed down by a 10.6% drop in Vonovia shares after Germany's largest landlord reported its biggest loss ever in 2023 following further writedowns on the values of its properties.
Among others, Swisscom shares gained 4.9% after the telecom company said it will buy Vodafone (LON:VOD) Italia for 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion) and merge the business with its Italian subsidiary Fastweb.
Vodafone shares jumped 5.7%, pushing the broader telecommunications up 1.5%.
Germany's HelloFresh (OTC:HLFFF) reported a decline of 6.6% in the number of active customers in the fourth quarter. Still, the stock was the top gainer on the STOXX 600, rallying 10.9%.
Polish fashion group LPP shares bottomed the STOXX 600, falling 35.8% after Hindenburg Research published a report alleging the firm's sale of its Russian assets was fake.
Meanwhile, data showed consumer prices in France rose slightly more than initially expected year-on-year in February, while Italian EU-harmonised consumer prices were up 0.8% in February from a year earlier.