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Market Update

Europe: Stocks Fall on Global Economic Woes

European equities edged lower early Monday, following a dismal jobs report in the United States last week that indicated a slowdown in activity and amid sovereign-debt concerns in the region.

At the time of writing, Britain's FTSE was trading 1.6% lower, while France's CAC and Germany's DAX fell 2.5% and 2.8%, respectively.

Amid a broad weakness in global macroeconomic data and increased concerns about the fiscal state of several indebted Euro-zone nations, the chances of a global double-dip recession remain a possibility, according to several economists.

Gold prices edged up again, trading just below the $1,900 per ounce mark. Crude oil fell.

In news-driven stocks, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Deutsche Bank fell between 5.4% and 7.1% after being named in a U.S. government lawsuit on charges relating to sale of mortgage-backed securities before the housing bubble bust. BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale dropped 3.2% to 4.4%.

Miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Anglo American lost between 2.3% and 3.3% while oil firms BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell and Total were off about 1.9% each.

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