European stock prices fell again this morning, marking the second consecutive day of declines, under pressure from investor concerns regarding a possible military strike on Syria due to the use of chemical weapons.
The London FTSE, Paris CAC, and Frankfurt DAX indices were down between 0.3 and 0.5 percent around 9:30 AM.
“It is clear that the market is pricing in the risk of conflict in Syria. The key issue that concerns us about that country, as well as Egypt, is the consequent strong rise in oil prices. This has the potential to become a bigger problem for emerging markets, and possibly for the West as well,” emphasizes Norman Villamni from the investment firm Coutts&Co. in Zurich.
A barrel of Brent Blend oil, after yesterday’s price increase of 3.3 percent, rose by 1.8 percent this morning to $116.37, the highest level in the past six months.
Investor focus may shift to shares of Italian banks after Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano reported their business results for the first half of the year. Popolare reported an increase in net profit, while Popolare Milano reported profit after a loss in the same period a year earlier.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei index fell by 1.51 percent today, to 13,338 points.
