European stocks fall, FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.6%
FRANKFURT: European stocks fell on Friday as an advance for banks, notably Swiss firm UBS, was offset by energy stocks which were hit by a fall in crude oil prices.
At 0912 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.6 percent at 1,051.13 points. It fell 1.4 percent on Thursday.
Investors awaited a debate and vote in the US House of Representatives on the $700 billion financial industry bailout package.
Economic growth was slowing down, partly as a result of the financial market turbulence, he said, echoing a theme addressed by several analysts in the run-up to the release at 1230 GMT of September US jobs data, which are among the most closely watched monthly indicators on the health of the world’s largest economy. Shares in Swiss engineering group ABB fell 3.6 percent.
Crude oil prices fell for the third straight day, towards $93.50 a barrel, on worries the U.S. bailout package may not be enough to prevent a further drop in oil demand.
Oil and gas was the biggest drag on the FTSEurofirst 300 index, with Italy’s ENI down 2.4 percent, France’s Total falling 1.8 percent and Royal Dutch Shell 1.5 percent lower.
The price of copper fell to a 20-month low. Shares in Anglo American fell 1.7 percent.
Credit Suisse cut mining to ‘market weight’ from ‘overweight’, saying commodity prices tend to fall when global industrial production growth drops below two percent.
Among banks, the day’s top weighted gainers, French BNP Paribas traded 3.5 percent higher after Goldman Sachs raised its target price for the stock.
Britain’s Barclays was up 3.3 percent, France-based Societe Generale gained 2.9 percent and UBS added 1.7 percent. UBS said it would cut 2,000 jobs and close most of its commodities business. reuters
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