European stocks head for sharp weekly decline, Apple suppliers drop

(Reuters) – European stocks opened lower on Friday, putting them on track for their sharpest weekly decline since a brutal selloff in March, as a new round of coronavirus lockdowns weighed on economic growth expectations.

An underwhelming response to Wall Street’s big tech earnings overnight also hit sentiment, with Europe’s tech sector <.SXTP> down 0.8%.

Apple suppliers AMS , Dialog Semiconductor and Infineon Technologies fell between 0.6% and 1.6% after the late launch of new 5G iPhones caused customers to put off buying new devices.

Air France-KLM fell 4.0% after it unveiled a 1.05 billion-euro ($1.24 billion) quarterly operating loss and warned of worse to come as a resurgent coronavirus brings new travel curbs.

Among gainers, French construction materials group Saint-Gobain rose 3.9% after improved full-year earnings forecast.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index <.STOXX> fell 0.6% by 0814 GMT, on course for a more than 6% weekly loss in what could be its worst such decline since an 18% plunge in mid-March.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)