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Europe battered by Iraq war woes
LONDON, England (CNN) -- European stock markets were pummeled, racking up triple-digit losses, by the close on Monday as a quick end to the Iraq war faded and Wall Street dived at the open. London's FTSE 100 benchmark index dropped 3.1 percent, or 117.8 points, to 3,743.3, Frankfurt's late-trading blue-chip Xetra DAX index slid 5.2 percent, or 141.08 points, to 2,573.98, while the CAC 40 in Paris slumped 5.7 percent, or 163.83 points, to 2,726.85. The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, dived 4.2 percent to 779.31 -- as it headed towards its biggest one-day loss in five months. The index closed up 7.8 percent last week at a two-week high on hopes the war would be over in a couple of days. Just before 12 noon on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 3.1 percent, or 263.87 points, to 8,257.96 and the tech-laden Nasdaq composite slid 2.9 percent, or 41.52 points, to 1,380.31. "The newsflow from the conflict is clearly not as good as people had hoped. There had been widespread expectations that it would be short, sharp, successful, no problem." David Thwaites, European equity strategist at BNP Paribas, told Reuters. "The perception is that maybe this is going to be a bit more drawn out than expected," he said. Iraqi state television showed pictures of what appeared to be President Saddam Hussein in an attempt to end speculation he may have been killed or badly injured by air strikes. He rallied his troops saying they would be victorious against U.S.-led forces. Recent reports on the war have included U.S.-led forces meeting resistance in their push towards Baghdad and pictures of U.S. soldiers having been captured by Iraq. But Gen. Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command, expressed satisfaction Monday with the pace of the war effort. (Full story) In corporate news, France Telecom (PFTE) fell 1 percent to 20 euros in Paris after Europe's second-largest phone company began selling shares worth 15 billion euros ($16 billion) to prop up its battered balance sheet. (Full story) The insurance sector came under renewed selling pressure amid concerns about their ability to meet claims as stock markets continue to dive for the fourth year running. Dutch insurer Aegon slid 7.5 percent to 7.70 euros and France's Axa (PCS) slid 7.1 percent to 11.70 euros. TUI, Europe's largest travel operator, slid 9.5 percent to 10.03 euros in Frankfurt as the company said it would double cost-cutting measures to offset slumping demand for tourism. The AEX index in Amsterdam slumped 6.4 percent and Milan's MIB30 index dipped 3.1 percent, while the SMI in Zurich dived 5 percent.
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