Irish shares join in Europe-wide sell-off as ECB rate hike worries return

Investors fear the ECB will keep rates at elevated levels

Worries the European Central Bank will keep rates higher for longer return to haunt stock markets

Shares in Ireland and the rest of Europe declined in the latest session, erasing all gains for the week, as worries about the possibility of hawkish-for-longer central banks outweighed optimism around cooling inflation. 

The Stoxx 600 Index dropped by over 1% even though data on Thursday had suggested a cooling inflation rate in the US.