Investing.com - European stock markets were sharply lower on Monday, after Moody’s Investors Service said it will review the credit ratings of all European Union countries following last week’s economic summit.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 1.88%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.42%, while Germany’s DAX 30 declined 1.99%.
Moody’s said it will review the ratings of all EU countries in the first quarter, saying Friday’s summit failed to deliver “decisive policy measures” to end the region’s debt crisis.
European Union leaders agreed to implement stricter budgetary rules across the euro zone and to provide EUR200 billion in loans to the International Monetary Fund to assist countries with debt problems.
But investors remained jittery after the European Central Bank indicated that it had no plans to increase its bond purchasing program, capping its weekly bond purchases at EUR20 billion.
Financial stocks extended earlier losses as shares in Germany’s Deutsche Bank tumbled 2.96% and French lender BNP Paribas plunged 3.18%, while Societe Generale plummeted 2.83%.
Moody’s downgraded France’s three largest banks Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole by one notch on Friday, saying there was a “very high” probability that the French government would step in to support them if conditions worsened.
On the upside, Swedbank surged 2.72% although Latvians earlier withdrew at least USD19 million from the Swedish bank’s automatic teller machines amid concern the lender may close its Estonian business and speculation the ATMs were malfunctioning.
In London, FTSE 100 declined 0.66%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower.
Shares in Lloyds Banking plunged 6.19% and the Royal Bank of Scotland plummeted 4.55%, while Barclays and HSBC Holdings tumbled 2.10% and 1.96% respectively.
Meanwhile, copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys declined 3.27% and 3.08%, while mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton retreated 2.02% and 2.23% respectively.
Elsewhere, ENRC sank 4.96%, even after denying a report in the Sunday Times that Britain’s Serious Fraud Office started an inquiry into allegations of corruption at a Kazakh iron ore unit.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.82%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.91% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.74% loss.
Also Monday, Italy’s Treasury sold the full targeted amount of EUR7 billion of 12-month government bonds at an average yield of 5.95% compared to 6.08% at a previous bond auction last month.
France was also scheduled to auction EUR6.5 billion euros of debt of three different maturities later Monday.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 1.88%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.42%, while Germany’s DAX 30 declined 1.99%.
Moody’s said it will review the ratings of all EU countries in the first quarter, saying Friday’s summit failed to deliver “decisive policy measures” to end the region’s debt crisis.
European Union leaders agreed to implement stricter budgetary rules across the euro zone and to provide EUR200 billion in loans to the International Monetary Fund to assist countries with debt problems.
But investors remained jittery after the European Central Bank indicated that it had no plans to increase its bond purchasing program, capping its weekly bond purchases at EUR20 billion.
Financial stocks extended earlier losses as shares in Germany’s Deutsche Bank tumbled 2.96% and French lender BNP Paribas plunged 3.18%, while Societe Generale plummeted 2.83%.
Moody’s downgraded France’s three largest banks Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole by one notch on Friday, saying there was a “very high” probability that the French government would step in to support them if conditions worsened.
On the upside, Swedbank surged 2.72% although Latvians earlier withdrew at least USD19 million from the Swedish bank’s automatic teller machines amid concern the lender may close its Estonian business and speculation the ATMs were malfunctioning.
In London, FTSE 100 declined 0.66%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower.
Shares in Lloyds Banking plunged 6.19% and the Royal Bank of Scotland plummeted 4.55%, while Barclays and HSBC Holdings tumbled 2.10% and 1.96% respectively.
Meanwhile, copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys declined 3.27% and 3.08%, while mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton retreated 2.02% and 2.23% respectively.
Elsewhere, ENRC sank 4.96%, even after denying a report in the Sunday Times that Britain’s Serious Fraud Office started an inquiry into allegations of corruption at a Kazakh iron ore unit.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 0.82%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.91% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.74% loss.
Also Monday, Italy’s Treasury sold the full targeted amount of EUR7 billion of 12-month government bonds at an average yield of 5.95% compared to 6.08% at a previous bond auction last month.
France was also scheduled to auction EUR6.5 billion euros of debt of three different maturities later Monday.