Market Update
European markets were lower Friday after a downbeat sentiment prevailed across markets globally following a sharply lower closing on Wall Street the previous day.
The FTSE was down a percent. The CAC 40 Paris also fell a percent while the German DAX dropped 1.2%.
Earlier in Asia, Japanese stocks closed at a six-month low, leading declines for the Asian region.
Political tensions remained in the backdrop over Russia’s stance on Ukraine.
Stocks on the Move
BP PLC fell 1.2% as the oil company’s executives sought to allay shareholder concerns over their exposure to Russia saying the company could help relations between Russia and the West and that it was talking to politicians.
BG Group was down 0.8% while Royal Dutch Shell traded half a percent lower.
Marks & Spencer fell 1.7%.
In miners, Aussie majors BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto fell 1.4% and 1.8% each, respectively. Anglo American was also down 1.5%.
Thales SA fell 4.5% after a broker downgrade following their investor day.
Firms with an exposure to Russia traded lower. Austrian lender Raiffeisen Bank was down 3.1%.
More news of vehicle recalls, this time from Germany – as BMW said it would recall more than 156,000 vehicles in the United States. However, its shares were off just 0.7%.