European stocks suffered their worst session in two months Friday, as investors tackled a raft of economic data and a fresh batch of corporate results as the week and month drew to a close. But, separately, inflation in the currency bloc fell to negative 0.2% in April, missing expectations for a flat reading. The data highlight the challenge of stubbornly low inflation the European Central Bank has been battling against.

Stocks fell on Friday as blue-chip tech shares dragged on the market, but the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average clung to April gains to score the second monthly rise in a row. While the earnings flow was light during the day, stocks were still reeling from a sharp selloff in the second half of a Thursday session that was driven by a number of factors-including a weak reading on U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product and a surprise decision by the Bank of Japan to leave monetary policy on hold. Dow industrials had stumbled more than 200 points on Thursday for their worst drop in two months.

Japanese stocks fell sharply early Monday, leading declines in the rest of Asia, on the yen's surge to a new 1½-year high against the dollar, weak earnings results from several firms and selling after the Bank of Japan's inaction on Thursday.

Based on MarketWatch materials