Global stock markets ended the week on a sour note on Friday as traders digested Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments that the US central bank was not on a preset path to cut interest rates.

After Powell indicated the Fed was in no hurry to cut rates as it monitors inflation's downward trajectory, Wall Street turned red, with all three major indices closing lower.

"Certainly Powell's speech has triggered some skepticism about the path of rates, with potentially December being a skip instead of another cut," Edward Jones senior investment strategist Angelo Kourkafas told AFP.

"But we do have another inflation and jobs report before that, so there is still a good sense we might see another rate cut in December," he added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 percent to 43,444.99, the S&P 500 lost 1.3 percent to 5,870.62 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.2 percent to 18,680.12.

Leading the way down were a clutch of vaccine-makers' stocks after US President-elect Donald Trump indicated he would appoint vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his health secretary.

In Europe, London was off 0.1 percent, digesting disappointing growth data. Frankfurt and Paris also ended in the red.

Disappointing US retail sales in October did not help overall sentiment as oil prices also drifted down.

In a speech on Thursday, Powell said that "the economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates."

While the US central bank is expected to cut interest rates again next month, investors are scaling back their bets on how many cuts will be made next year.

Investors are worried tax cuts and tariffs planned by Trump could reignite inflation.

"The (Trump) administration's renewed focus on tariffs could weigh heavily on currencies of trade-exposed economies, particularly those in Asia and the eurozone," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets.

European markets stuttered as the European Commission predicted economic growth would pick up slightly and inflation would keep falling in the eurozone next year, but warned of growing risks linked to geopolitical tensions. (AFP)