European stocks are diving

European stocks opened sharply lower on Friday, extending losses seen on Thursday, pushed downwards by negative trading sessions in the USA and Asia. Just after 8:20 a.m. BST (3:20 a.m. ET) most of Europe's biggest indexes are off by more than 1%, with the IBEX in Spain propping up the continent once more, down by 1.7%.

Here's how that looks:

Investing.com

Elsewhere, the FTSE 100 is down 1.12%, while Germany's DAX has slipped 1.38%. The Euro Stoxx 50 broad index has dived 1.69%. Here's the scoreboard for the rest of Europe:

• France's CAC 40 - down 1.49%
• Italy's FTSE MIB - down 1.3%
• The Netherlands' AEX - down 1.59%
• Belgium's BEL 20 - down 1.34%
• Switzerland's SMI - down 1.62%

The European slide comes despite a strong set of PMI data from China, which showed that activity in the country's manufacturing sector jumped for the first time in eight months. That seems to signal that the worst of China's manufacturing slump could be over, but investors don't seem to be convinced.

Here's what Mike van Dulken of Accendo Markets had to say about the open:

The negative opening call comes after negative sessions in both the US and Asia despite a surprise jump in Chinese PMI data for the first time in 8 months suggesting Beijing stimulus doing its job, although sceptics point to a seasonal rebound from the Lunar New Year. Weak Japanese Manufacturing data is likely taking its toll on risk appetite along with an oil price struggling around recent lows.