European stocks tanked ahead of the long Easter weekend

European stocks went into the Easter weekend in negative territory after a day which saw the biggest share indexes fall substantially.

Markets in Europe had been subdued on Wednesday as investors continued to react to the terrorist atrocities in Belgium, but something of a normal service resumed on Thursday, and stocks fell sharply.

Losses were generally between 1%-1.5%, but some indexes saw falls of even more. France's CAC 40 was the biggest loser on the day, off by 2.11% to close at 4,330 points, dragged down by a variety of stocks. Banking group Societe Generale propped up the index, down 4%.

No stocks on France's blue-chip index ended the week in positive territory, with industrial conglomerate Bouygues the best performer, down 0.18%. Here's how the CAC looks going into the Easter weekend:

In Britain, the FTSE lost 1.49% of its value, led lower by a horrendous performance from high street retailer next, which had one of its worst days in over 15 years. Shares in Next fell nearly 15% after it warned that 2016 will be its "toughest year since 2008" in its annual results. This is how the FTSE looked at the close:

Here's the scoreboard for the rest of Europe:

• Germany's DAX - down 1.73%
• Spain's IBEX 35 - down 1.29%
• Italy's FTSE MIB - down 1.62%
• Belgium's BEL 20 - down 1.64%
• The Netherlands AEX - down 1.27%
• Euro Stoxx 50 broad index - down 1.83%

Markets across Europe are shut on Friday in observance of Good Friday, and will remain closed until Tuesday, when normal service will resume.