The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 1.4% lower, though it posted a second straight week of gains.
All major European stock markets were heavy losers except Spain, which closed 0.2% lower.
Novo Nordisk fell 5.4% after results from a phase 2a trial of the Danish drugmaker’s experimental obesity pill monlunabant came in below market expectations.
The broader health care subsector declined by 1.9%.
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Autos hurt a 6.8% slide at Mercedes-Benz, which cut its full-year profit margin target for the second time in less than two months, below 3.6% in the main STOXX sectors.
Other industry rivals such as Volkswagen and France’s Fourvia fell 3.4% and 8% respectively.
Shares of Dutch computer chip equipment maker ASML fell 4.2% after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating to “equal-weight,” while tech fell 2.7%.
Global equities rose sharply on Thursday after the Fed kicked off an expected series of interest rate cuts with a larger-than-usual half-percentage-point cut on Wednesday.
“The market expects further declines of the same amount before the end of the year, and in the absence of an economic slowdown, the scene is set for a positive end to the year,” said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor. .
On the data front, British retail sales rose a more-than-expected 1% in August and improved growth in July, while euro zone consumer confidence rose 0.5 points in September from August’s number.
German producer prices fell less than expected in August, falling 0.8% on the year versus expectations for a 1% decline.
In other headline stocks, Germany’s DHL fell 4.4% following disappointing first-quarter results from US rival FedEx.
Burberry fell 3.5% as Jefferies cut its rating on the British fashion company to “underperform” from “hold” and cut the target price from 800p to 490p.
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