European share futures plunge after Israel strikes Iran

LONDON (Reuters) -European shares were set to open sharply lower on Friday after Israel launched widescale strikes against Iran, which pushed the oil price up by 7% and drove a rush out of risk assets.

Euro STOXX 50 futures, which track blue-chip euro zone stocks, dropped 1.4%, <with contracts on the German and French benchmarks each down over 1%.

Futures on Britain's oil- heavy FTSE fell 0.4%.

(Reporting by Alun John; Editing by Amanda Cooper)