The main European stock markets retreated at the start of trading on Friday in a climate of risk aversion, with persistent worries about the banking sector.

In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 1.29% to 7,047.39 points around 08:55 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 gave up 1.08% and in Frankfurt, the Dax was down 1.26%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index was down by 1.39%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.83% and the Stoxx 600 by 1.06%.

Virtually all sector indices were in the red, but it was the banking sector (-3%) that posted the biggest drop of the morning. Société Générale

(-3.99%), ahead of BNP Paribas (-3.17%).

In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank fell by 7.72% after a sharp increase in the cost of insuring against the risk of default on Thursday evening.

Credit Suisse and UBS lost 6.2% and 5.87% respectively. Bloomberg reported that the two Swiss banks, which have been in the news for the past week, are among those under investigation by the US Department of Justice to determine whether they may have helped Russian oligarchs evade sanctions.

This information outweighs the perception of a pause in US interest rates, the Treasury Secretary's reassuring remarks on American deposits, and the improvement in private activity in France and Germany this month.

Retail group Casino fell by 5.22% after Moody's downgraded its CFR rating from "B3" to "Caa1".

Technip Energies lost 6.75% after analysts at JPMorgan downgraded their recommendation to "neutral".

(Laetitia Volga, edited by Blandine Hénault)