Rising U.S. bond yields put European equities under pressure again on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powells remarks failed to soothe investor concerns about a recent surge in borrowing costs.

The panEuropean STOXX 600 fell 0.7, with shares of travel, media, and financial services companies leading the declines.

While Powell said the rise in yields was notable, he did not consider it a disorderly move, or one that pushed longterm rates so high the Fed might have to intervene in markets more forcefully to bring them down.

The comments fuelled a selloff on Wall Street on Thursday, pushing the techheavy Nasdaq to erase its yearly gains. European tech shares also fell 0.5, on course for their second weekly loss.

The markets wanted hints as to what the central bank would do if the situation worsens, and when that didnt materialise, equities took a hit, Connor Campbell, financial analyst at SpreadEx wrote in a note. Thats fed into a rough European open.

Elevated yields have piled pressure on highgrowth tech companies and steady dividendpaying sectors such as utilities and consumer staples in the recent weeks.

Still, the STOXX 600 was on course to post a 1.2 weekly rise as investors bought economically sensitive stocks such as automakers, insurance, oil gas companies on bets of a speedy economic bounceback this year.

Data showed orders for Germanmade goods rose by twice as much as expected in January as robust foreign demand more than offset domestic…