LONDON: European stock markets fell yesterday as dealers fretted over the shrinking US economy and a flood of company earnings news, with Madrid hit hard by poor results from eurozone banking giant Santander.
London’s FTSE 100 index of leading companies closed down 0.73 percent to 6,276.88 points as investors also digested earnings from a host of British companies including energy major Royal Dutch Shell and brewer Diageo.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 gave up 0.45 percent to 7,776.05 points, and in Paris the CAC 40 fell 0.87 percent to 3,732.60 points.
“The US GDP numbers yesterday have sent some jitters across the markets,” said analyst Anita Paluch at trading firm Gekko Global Markets.
Investors were surprised by the US Commerce Department figures showing the world’s biggest economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the October-December quarter. Forecasts had been for a 1.0 percent rise.
The euro rose to $1.3582 compared with $1.3564 in New York late on Wednesday, when it had struck a 14-month peak at $1.3587.
“Heavyweight stocks are weighing today, as a busy day for corporate results has leaned in favour of the bears,” said IG analyst Will Hedden, in reference to investors who believe that markets are heading lower.
Madrid’s IBEX 35 index slumped 2.45 percent to 8,362 points after Santander announced plunging 2012 net profits and wrote off nearly ¤19bn ($26bn) for dodgy loans and for property assets in Spain. In reaction, the Spanish lender’s share price dived 3.45 percent to ¤6.18 in Madrid.
Milan’s FTSE Mib shares index meanwhile rebounded 0.86 percent to 17,439 points, having slumped by 3.36 percent on Wednesday on concerns over Italy’s banking and energy sectors.
In London, AstraZeneca was the biggest faller, with shares nose-diving 3.16 percent to 3,053 pence. Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell saw its ‘A’ share price drop 2.8 percent to 2,241 pence.
On the upside, shares in British brewer Diageo jumped 1.78 percent to 1,886 pence on news that net profits soared 61 percent. And the share price of British pay-TV giant BSkyB gained 0.93 percent to 817.5 pence after it posted a ten percent increase in interim profits.
US stocks were down in midday trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.17 percent to 13,886.11 points. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.29 percent to 1,497.65 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.10 percent to 3,139.19 points. AFP
