(Reuters) -European shares dipped on Friday, rounding off a lacklustre week which saw investors step to the sidelines ahead of crucial updates from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank(ECB), while Croda slid on a tepid profit outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pan-European\u00a0STOXX 600\u00a0index remained at 460.51 points by 0817 GMT, and was set dip 0.4% for the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Investors feared that the Fed could opt for a hawkish stance in its meeting next week, while the ECB is expected to continue to tighten its monetary policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Money markets now see a 73% chance that the Fed will skip raising interest rates in its June meeting but will resume rate hiking in July. For the ECB, traders see about a 98% chance of a 25 basis point rate hike next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Our view on the Fed is that they want to pause… We do however, expect the Fed to keep the door open for another hike in July,” Mohit Kumar, a strategist at Jefferies said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“ECB is in a slightly different position as we do not believe that it is in the ‘sufficiently restrictive territory’ yet. We expect a rate hike in June followed by another in July and that should mark the end of the current rate hiking cycle.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shares of Croda International tumbled 15.8% to lead losses in the STOXX 600 after the British chemicals company forecast its annual pre-tax earnings to come in below expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The broader European chemicals index fell 1.9%, leading sectoral declines. Chemicals also fell the most among major European sectors for the week, down some 3%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among gainers, basic resources rose 0.8%. It was set to clock weekly gains of 2%, leading the advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Norwegian metal and renewable energy company Norsk Hydro (OTC:NHYDY) led gain on the index, to rise 1.8%. The company agreed to buy land in Spain for the construction of an aluminium recycling plant.<\/p>\n