Europe stocks log worst week of the year as Credit Suisse rattles sentiment

Europe's Stoxx 600 closed 1.26% lower on Friday as investors processed a week of volatility in the banking sector during which the European Central Bank hiked rates by another 50 basis points.

It takes the index's losses for the week to 3.99%, according to Eikon data, its worst performance since September 2022.

France's CAC 40 fell 1.4% on Friday, Germany's DAX dropped 1.3% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed 1% lower.

The banking sector was down 3.2% in late afternoon trade, leading sector losses as sentiment remained fragile at the end of a tumultuous week.

Credit Suisse was the worst-performing stock in the Stoxx 600 index, down 9.4%.

But losses were pan-European, as Santander fell by 5.5%, Swedbank by 4.6%, Commerzbank by 4.5%, Deutsche Bank by 3% and Barclays by 2.7%.

HSBC UK, which rescued Silicon Valley Bank UK earlier this week, was down 3.3%.

— Jenni Reid

Mathias Cormann discusses the organization's Interim Economic Outlook.

The major indexes were down as trading kicked off.

The Dow was down 0.6%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.2%.

Still, all three are on pace for gains this week.

— Alex Harring

CEO of Italian energy giant SNAM Stefano Venier discusses the future of LNG terminals and Italy's role in helping Europe attain energy security amid the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine.

Corrado Passera, CEO of illimity Bank, said the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank would not have happened in Europe, partly because of the "pervasive controls" that have been applied in the continent.

The European Central Bank on Friday held a last-minute meeting to discuss recent events in the banking sector, a spokesperson said.

"The Supervisory Board is meeting to exchange views and to provide members with an update on recent developments in the banking sector," the spokesperson said via email.

The announcement comes after a turbulent week for banking stocks. It all started with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the U.S. last week — this sent ripples across global markets. The situation became even more troublesome when concerns about the stability of Credit Suisse emerged. The Swiss National Bank had to step in and provide a lifeline to the bank of up to $54 billion.

— Silvia Amaro

Credit Suisse shares were 2% higher Friday before dropping to trade 5% below the flatline just before 9.30 a.m. London time.

Shares of the embattled lender plummeted Wednesday after the bank's biggest lender ruled out further financial assistance. Credit Suisse then soared Thursday on news the bank would borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($54 billion) from the Swiss National Bank.

Full coverage of the story can be found here.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton and Elliot Smith

Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, discusses how the banking sector has changed since the global financial crisis, including the impact of social media.

Shares of GN Store Nord were up 10% in early trade on reports that activist investment firm Elliott Management bought shares in the company, according to Reuters.

Elliott Management last hit the headlines in January when the firm reportedly made a multi-billion dollar investment in Salesforce.

Shares of British oil and gas company Harbour Energy were up 6% in morning trade. The company had hit a new 52-week low Tuesday following an analyst downgrade.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

European markets opened higher Friday, after Credit Suisse and First Republic Bank received financial help designed to prevent a crisis in the banking sector.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index opened 0.8% higher, with all sectors and major bourses trading in positive territory. Oil and gas led the rally with a 1.9% uptick, followed by mining stocks, which were up 1.4%.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Shares of First Republic fell 18% in extended trading, erasing the afternoon rally sparked by a $30 billion deposit plan announced by the country's biggest banks.

While the move gives First Republic a significant cash pile, the bank did announce after the bell that it had borrowed tens of billions of dollars from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Home Loan Bank over the past week. Outflows of deposits have now "slowed considerably," the bank said.

First Republic also announced that it was suspending its common stock dividend.

— Jesse Pound

Short-sellers are sitting on nearly $2 billion in profit from bets against the European banking sector this month so far. And, perhaps surprisingly, Credit Suisse wasn't the most profitable short.

Short-sellers profit when a stock falls. They borrow shares to immediately sell them with plans to repurchase them later when the price is lower, making a profit from the difference.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the banking stocks short-sellers are eyeing here.

— Ganesh Rao

Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan thinks it's still too early to tell whether the U.S. rescue plan to stem bank contagion risks has worked.

"I think what's happened so far, in terms of the rescues, is sort of done the first aid. The question is — is there a slow bleed that is still going on," he told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia."

"My sense is that we won't know whether the Fed has been successful on this rescue mission until a few weeks have passed and we see no more problems."

Rajan, now a professor of finance at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, noted questions remain around the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

"There are lots of questions to be answered here," he said. "How come a mid-size bank was oblivious of interest rate risk?"

He added regulators need to rebuild confidence in small- and medium-sized banks, and that means "signaling very clearly that the banks with problems have been taken care of and I think we're not there yet."

— Sumathi Bala

European equity markets are expected to open higher across the board.

The U.K.'s FTSE index is expected to see a 45 point increase to 7,454.7, according to IG data, while the DAX will jump 32.5 points to 15,030.9. France's CAC is anticipated to increase 23.5 points to 7,066.1 while Italy's MIB will gain 150 points to reach 25,621.5.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton