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September 16 (Reuters) – European stocks fell on Friday as recession warnings and bets of a sharp interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve next week turned sentiment around.

The STOXX 600 on a continental scale .STOXX the index slid 1% moments after the opening bell, looking at declines of more than 2% for the week.

All major European sector indices were down at 07:11 GMT, travel and leisure .SXTP leading the declines.

The World Bank said Thursday night that the global economy could be heading into a recession as central banks aggressively tackle persistent inflation, adding to concerns that prevail ahead of the Fed meeting next week.

The International Monetary Fund said it expected a slowdown in the third quarter, while warning some countries could slide into recession in 2023.

Struggling German gas importer Uniper SE UN01.DE fell 9.4% to the STOXX 600 low as it struggled to keep up with costs following Russia’s sudden shutdown of a major natural gas pipeline earlier this month.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

((Shreyashi.Sanyal@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 8780; +91 961 144 3740; Twitter: https://twitter.com/s_shreyashi;))

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