European markets mixed

European stock markets were mixed Friday, as the region’s soaring pandemic cases weighed on sentiment, and investors wound down what’s set to be the worst week for trading since June.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was flat at 356.09, after closing down 1% on Thursday. The index is set for a 3.4% drop to the week with one session left to trade, and that would mark its worst weekly performance since the week ending June 12, according to FactSet. The German DAX was flat, the French CAC fell 0.4% and the FTSE 100 gained 0.3%.

Europe is full of concerns that rising coronavirus cases and fresh restrictions will hamper the early seeds of an economic recovery, which has helped drive investors to the region. Governments in the U.K. and France have introduced new measures to battle climbing cases, while Spain is struggling with a massive outbreak in its Madrid region.

Investors “have every right to be worried about the coronavirus stock market rally, which is under a great threat. The airline, retail, and hospitality sectors are the ones to keep an eye on as investors continue to question their future,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade.

Meanwhile, the lack of a U.S. stimulus bill ahead of presidential elections has acted as weight on sentiment globally. Drugmakers were among the worst performers, with shares of AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk all down around 1% or more.

Airlines were again under pressure, with shares of British Airways operator International Consolidated Airlines dropping 4%, and Deutsche Lufthansa and Ryanair Holdings RY4C, down 2% each.

Most Asian emerging stocks and currencies eked out modest gains on Friday, steadying as signs overnight of moves to deliver more U.S. fiscal stimulus calmed some of the worst bouts of selling on global stock markets in months. Other Asian equity markets made more modest gains, with the

Philippines, Malaysia and South Korea adding between 0.4% to 0.8%, and were still set to register heavy losses for the week.