Market Update
Equities were sharply lower across Europe Monday as investors continued to dump stocks following a selloff on Wall Street last week Friday.
The FTSE was down 0.6%. The CAC 40 Paris fell 0.8% while the German DAX dropped 1.3%.
Stocks fell even as data showed better-than expected industrial production in Germany and Spain.
A couple of merger and acquisition news items hogged the spotlight.
Stocks on the Move
Miners and banks were both lower in London. Anglo American and Vedanta Resources both gave up about 0.5% each while BHP Billiton was down 1.4%.
In banks, HSBC edged down 0.4% while Barclays PLC and Lloyds fell 1.7% and 1.8% each, respectively.
Shares of Lafarge S.A. strengthened 3.2% after the French cement major agreed the terms of a merger with Switzerland’s Holcim to potentially create the world’s largest cement company with a market value of around $55 billion.
Holcim surged 3.6% in Zurich.
But Bouygues SA fell 5.7% after its bid for Vivendi’s French mobile unit was rejected in favor of a bid from Altice SA. Vivendi rose 1.2% while Altice surged 8.2%.
German cement major Heidelberg was up half a percent.
Online car tyre retailer Delticom AG was up 2.1% after local media reports that the company sees the possibility of doubling sales to 1 billion euros in five years.
Audi was down 0.8% even as the company said it may further increase production in its home market in the second quarter.