|
|
  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Europe plunges on U.S. data
LONDON, England (CNN) -- European markets plunged to a close on Tuesday after a key U.S. indicator showed consumer confidence tumbled in October to its lowest level in almost nine years. London's FTSE 100 fell 3.8 percent, or 154.6 points, to 3,935.9 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris lost 5 percent, or 155.7 points, to 2,965.11. Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax was down 5.1 percent, or 162.2 points, to 3,138.35 in late trading (the German market was set to close at 1700 GMT). The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was down 4.1 percent, with all major sub-indices ending lower. Investors -- who earlier in the session had been selling shares to profit from recent rallies -- immediately began dumping stocks after the private Conference Board said U.S. consumer morale fell in October to its lowest level since November 1993, marking the biggest monthly decline since the September 11 terrorist attacks. (Full story) "This data is going to pull the rug right out from underneath the stock market's feet because it's just another reminder that consumer sentiment is the Achilles heel of this recovery," David Brown, economist at investment bank Bear Stearns, told Reuters. "Consumer demand accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. GDP and without the consumer the outlook for recovery is going to look rather hollow. The bottom line as far as policy is concerned is that it's another reminder to the Fed that it perhaps needs to give some extra stimulus to the economy with lower rates." Even before the U.S. consumer data was released, European markets had been hit by a wave of negative corporate news. France Telecom, Europe's second-largest phone operator, fell 7.2 percent to 10.84 euros after saying it expected full-year revenue to increase by between 8 and 9 percent. It had previously stated annual sales would grow at a "double-digit" pace. The group's mobile phone business Orange (PORA) lost 10.3 percent to 5.65 euros after it warned it may miss its growth target. (Full story) Vivendi Universal (PEX), Europe's biggest media company, dropped 9.3 percent to 12.15 euros after a French court granted it an extra month to respond to a bid by Vodafone Group (VOD) to control Cegetel. (Full story) Vodafone, Europe's biggest mobile phone company, lost 6.1 percent to 103.80 pence. The beverage sector fell after the UK's Diageo (DGE), the world's biggest spirits group, warned that it may not meet its financial targets "given world events and the more difficult world economic environment." It lost 7.8 percent to 747.85 pence. (Full story) Allied Domecq (ALLD) fell 3.7 percent to 379.75 pence after the world's second-largest spirits group said full-year profits rose 6 percent. (Full story) Leading the oil and gas sector lower was BP (BP), Europe's biggest company by market capitalisation and the world's second-largest oil company. It dropped 7.2 percent to 392.50 pence after it cut its oil and gas output forecast for the third time this year as tropical storms and technical problems cut into already weaker production levels. (Full story) Shell Transport &Trading (SHEL), which owns 40 percent of the world's No. 3 oil company Royal Dutch/Shell, fell 5.7 percent to 389.96 pence, while Royal Dutch, which owns the remainder, lost 6.2 percent to 40.40 euros. Technology stocks took a hit after the tech-laden Nasdaq in the U.S. ended the session lower on Monday as investors banked recent profits. France's STMicroeletronics (PSTM), Europe's biggest chipmaker, lost 8.6 percent to 18.14 euros and Germany's Infineon Technologies (FIFX), the region's No. 2 chipmaker, was down 12.4 percent to 9.35 euros in late Frankfurt trading. Alcatel (PCGE), the world's fifth largest telecom equipment maker, plunged 10.8 percent to 3.70 euros in Paris, while ASML, the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker, dropped 13.4 percent to 7.71 euros. In other sectors, Franco-German drug maker Aventis (PAVE) lost 6.6 percent to 56.80 euros as weaker than expected sales of its blood-clot drug Lovenox overshadowed a 21 percent rise in third-quarter net profit. (Full story) British American Tobacco (BATS) bucked the downward trend, edging up 0.9 percent to 629 pence after posting a small rise in third-quarter profit and stood by its forecast of "high single figure" earnings growth this year. (Full story) The AEX index in Amsterdam was down 4.8 percent, Milan's MIB30 index fell 3.5 percent and the SMI in Zurich lost 3 percent. In the U.S. on Tuesday, a much weaker-than-expected report on consumer confidence sent shock waves through Wall Street, sending stocks into the red in early trading. At 1530 GMT, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 122.62 points to 8245.42 and the Nasdaq composite was 24.49 points lower at 1291.34.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
