European equities tumbled Friday, capping a turbulent week dominated by ballooning concerns over the health of the global economy. The Stoxx Europe 600 ended the session down 1.5%, taking its weekly loss to 4% and monthly loss to over 7%, tracking a fall on Wall Street during the previous session.

Global stocks and bonds had enjoyed a brief lift after cautious minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday pushed expectations for the central bank’s first rate rise further into the future. That move, however, proved to be short-lived, with investors quick to take profits, particularly in light of poor underlying data–especially out of the eurozone–and the International Monetary Fund’s dismal growth prospects.

“Bad news is bad news, after all,” economists at Barclays wrote in a note, adding that while a delayed rate increase in the U.S. may have benefited markets in the short run, investors are fundamentally still spooked by the fragile state of the recovery.

“Memories from January are still fresh, when Treasury yields dropped during what later proved to be a significant slowdown in U.S. and Chinese growth,” said Gustavo Reis, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, adding that the current growth risks are likewise material.

Philip Lawlor, a partner at London-based Smith & Williamson Investment Management LLP, which manages about GBP15 billion ($24 billion), described it as a “cathartic correction.”

“The eurozone is evidently confronting a deflationary vortex and there are certainty fears now that the European Central Bank will dither and delay, and then do too little too late to stimulate a recovery,” he said.

The gloom spread into the U.S. on Friday too, where the S&P 500 failed to clamber to intermittent gains, and was down 0.4% at the European close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which on Thursday recorded its largest loss of the year, fell 0.2%.

One important source of jitters was data earlier in the week showing that in August, factory output in Germany slumped 4% on the month and manufacturing orders slid 5.7%, both well below expectations. On Thursday the country recorded its biggest drop in exports for August since January 2009, further unsettling investors leading Mizuho International on Friday to trim its growth forecast for the country to 0.1% from 0.2% for the third quarter.

“The downturn in emerging economies and the trade sanctions vis-à-vis Russia have caused a sharp slowdown in German export growth, depriving the eurozone of its only remaining growth driver,” the Japanese bank’s chief European economist Riccardo Barbieri said.

Germany’s DAX 30, packed full of cyclical industrial stocks which are particularly sensitive to growth expectations both domestically and abroad, was the biggest loser of all main European indexes on Friday, falling 2.4% to a one-year low.

It has lost 4.4% this week and 9.4% since the start of the year. The index has also dropped over 12% since its all-time high in early June, putting it firmly into correction territory–a phrase used to describe a fall of between 10% and 20% from the previous peak.

According to data from Lipper, a unit of Thomson Reuters, U.S. investors poured a net EUR4.12 billion ($5.24 billion) into Europe-focused equity funds from the start of the year until the end of August. But more than EUR800 million flowed out of funds which concentrate on Germany.

“The selling is pretty indiscriminate, and today it looks like there is no place to hide,” said Neil Wilkinson, who manages a European equity fund at Royal London Asset Management, which oversees GBP77 billion of assets. He added that he has steered clear of cyclical stocks in recent months.

The euro fell by almost half a percent against the dollar to $1.2633 and the yield on the 10-year bund, which is valued as a low-risk investment during times of volatility, was at 0.88%, around 0.02% lower on the day. Yields rise as bond prices fall.

In neighboring France on Friday, data showed that industrial production stagnated in August, sending the CAC 40 down 1.6%, or 4.9% on the week. The U.K’s FTSE 100 also hit a 12-month low, taking its month-to-date decline to 7.2%.

The U.K.’s main trading partner is the eurozone, and the dismal picture in the region this week led some strategist to push back their rate hike expectations for the Bank of England.

“The continuing dampening of Bank of England rate-hike expectations is likely to keep the pound on the defensive in the near term,” said Lee Hardman, a currency strategist at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ.

The pound has now wiped out all the gains it made in the aftermath of Scotland’s voting to remain part of the U.K. last month, also spurred by nerves fraying ahead of a looming general election scheduled for May next year.

On Thursday, the U.K. Independence Party, which wants Britain to withdraw from the European Union, won its first elected seat in Parliament.

“The victory is a reminder that the general election is upon us and that uncertainty surrounding that is huge and it could be very messy,” said Kit Juckes, a macro strategist at Société Générale in London.

In Russia, meanwhile, the ruble hit yet another all-time low at Friday’s opening, battered by its own problems, despite the central bank’s continued interventions. It was down around 0.3% at the European market close against the buck at 40.35, taking the year-to-date drop to over 20%. The central bank said early Friday it sold $1.5 billion to prop up the ruble on Oct. 8.

Brent crude ended the week around 0.4% lower on the day at $89.95 a barrel, while gold slipped 0.2% to $1,222.10 a troy ounce.