* Supply snafus knock Siemens Energy wind unit; shares
plummet
* Rio Tinto tumbles as Serbia vetoes $2.4 bln lithium plan
* Miners retreat from 2008 highs
* Automobile stocks worst weekly performers
Jan 21 (Reuters) - European stocks slumped on Friday to mark
a third week of losses as jitters over monetary policy
tightening by central banks this year and weak economic data
sparked steep declines across global equities.
The pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 1.8%, and was
down 1.4% over the week. Mining stocks were the day's
worst performers, losing 3.3%.
Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto tumbled 2.2%, the
biggest drag on the sector, after Serbia revoked its lithium
exploration licenses over environmental concerns, hurting the
group's ambition to become Europe's largest supplier of the
metal.
Investors are now waiting for the U.S. Federal Reserve's
meeting next week for details on how it intends to tackle high
inflation.
"There's a lot of speculation - four, five, six U.S. rate
hikes this year, a 50 basis point hike in March - which has fed
markets' underlying anxiety," said Craig Erlam, a senior market
analyst at OANDA.
"We can never underestimate the knock-on effects of the U.S.
on global markets, and Europe is facing challenges of its own
with the Omicron variant and energy crisis," he said, adding
that markets were even starting to price in potential tightening
by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Cementing those concerns, ECB accounts showed policymakers
argued at a meeting last month that inflation could "easily" get
stuck above target, and the central bank should keep the door
open to tightening policy.
Further, euro zone consumer prices jumped at a record pace
in December, boosted by a surge in energy prices and supply
chain bottlenecks.
Adding to worries, the Bank of England will press ahead with
its tightening cycle next month as red-hot inflation runs well
ahead of target, a Reuters poll found.
However, at some point, investors will start to be drawn
back in towards European markets once the peak inflationary
period of late first-quarter, early second-quarter passes, and
economic data starts to improve, Erlam said.
Airbus lost 2.0% after saying it had canceled a
contract with Qatar Airways for 50 A321neo jets, broadening a
$600 million-plus dispute with the Gulf carrier over the larger
A350.
Siemens Energy plunged 16.6% after cutting its
forecast as wind unit Siemens Gamesa warned of
prolonged supply chain issues, renewing pressure on the German
firm to fully take over the unit.
Siemens Gamesa dropped 14.0%, joining Siemens Energy as the
two worst performers on the STOXX 600.
Concerns over supply chain disruptions also saw European
automobile stocks lag their peers this week, down 4.2%.
(Reporting by Anisha Sircar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu
Sahu, Kirsten Donovan)