At the very beginning of today’s trading on European stock markets, share prices plummeted more than 1 percent, as investors are concerned about the continuation of a series of macroeconomic data indicating a weakening recovery of the world’s largest economies.
The FTSEurofirst index of 300 leading European stocks fell by 1.2 percent to 1,013 points by 9:30 AM, after already declining by 0.1 percent yesterday. The Frankfurt DAX, London FTSE, and Paris CAC indices were simultaneously down between 1.1 and 1.3 percent. A sharp drop in oil prices from over $75 to around $74 per barrel has pressured the energy sector. Shares of Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, and Tullow Oil fell between 1.6 and 3.2 percent.
The market was also negatively affected by yesterday’s drop in stock prices on Wall Street of more than 1 percent, following new data indicating a slowdown in the growth of the U.S. economy. “All this instability and nervousness in the market is a result of investors’ fears of a double-dip recession. I do not believe that will happen, but there are still risks,” says Philippe Gijsels, an analyst at BNP Paribas. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei index fell 3.6 percent this morning to 8,824 points, marking its largest daily drop in three months. In August, that index fell by 7.5 percent. (H)
