European stocks fall to five-month low

Eurostoxx 50:2068.66 (-2.37%) Paris CAC:2,950.47 (-2.21%) Frankfurt DAX:6,050.29 (-3.42%)

YESTERDAY WAS an extremely weak day for markets across the board as poor UK manufacturing data, worse than expected US job figures and concerns about Chinese growth weighed on investors.

European stocks fell to a five-month low, while most commodities fell sharply, although gold rebounded somewhat.

DUBLIN

While domestically the Yes vote on the fiscal treaty gave some boost to markets, the ISEQ didn’t escape the general weakness, with the market losing a hefty 2.5 per cent.

Volumes were very low, with one trader reporting “virtually no interest in buying”.

Practically all stocks on the Iseq lost ground. CRH shed 2.5 per cent to finish at €13.24, though traders reported some decent volume in the stock towards the end of the session in the London market.

Other big names also lost ground. Kingspan lost 3 per cent to finish at €6.66, while pharmaceutical company Elan lost 5 per cent to close at €10.97.

Ryanair was one of the few stocks to perform well, though off a low close on Thursday evening. It managed to stay in positive territory for the session, though fell back slightly at the close to finish the day flat at €4.05.

LONDON

UK stocks tumbled to a six-month low as the nation’s manufacturing shrank at the fastest pace since 2009.

Aquarius Platinum sank 12 per cent to the lowest since 2005 after Goldman Sachs cut its price estimate on the shares.

Croda International and IMI slid more than 2.5 per cent.

BP rose 1.8 per cent after saying it will attempt to sell its 50 per cent holding in TNK-BP.

The benchmark FTSE 100 fell 60.67 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 5,260.19 at the close in London, the lowest since November 25th.

The FTSE All-Share Index decreased 1.2 per cent

The FTSE 100 has fallen 1.7 per cent this week, bringing the drop from this year’s high in March to 12 per cent, amid concern that Greece will be forced to leave the euro area.

Companies most dependent on economic growth led losses in the FTSE 100.

Croda, the world’s second-largest maker of cosmetic ingredients, declined 2.6 per cent to 2,179 pence.

IMI, the world’s biggest maker of pneumatic controls, dropped 4.4 per cent to 846.5 pence. Johnson Matthey, the pollution control specialist that makes a third of all autocatalysts, fell 3.3 per cent to 2,100 pence.

EUROPE

European stocks fell to a five-month low amid the negative economic data from across the globe.

Daimler and Bayerische Motoren Werke fell more than 3.5 per cent, leading automakers lower.

BP gained 1.8 per cent after it said it will pursue the sale of its 50 per cent holding in TNK-BP, Russia’s third-largest oil producer. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 1.9 per cent to 235.09 at the close of trading in London, completing a weekly loss of 3.1 per cent. National benchmark indexes fell in all of the 18 western European markets today. Germany’s DAX dropped 3.4 per cent, while France’s CAC 40 declined 2.2 per cent.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewer, fell 3.2 per cent to €53 after the Brazilian government raised beer taxes more than anticipated. AB InBev owns Cia de Bebidas das Americas, Brazil’s biggest brewer and gets about 30 per cent of its earnings before interest and taxes from the country.

Swiss Watchmakers Swatch Group and Financiere Richemont fell 4.7 per cent to 355.90 francs and 6.1 per cent to 52 francs as China’s manufacturing slowdown raised concerns that demand for Swiss watches will decline in the country.

US

US stocks plunged yesterday after opening on the back of a surprisingly weak jobs report which added to fears about a global economic slowdown and sent the Dow into negative territory for the year. The report was the latest in a string of bearish data, and came alongside signs of slowing in China’s economy.

The benchmark SP, hovering around its 200-day moving average, posted its biggest daily decline since December and was on track for its fourth weekly loss of the last five.

Banking shares dropped, with JPMorgan Chase down 1.9 per cent to $32.52 in early trade and Banc of America down 3.4 per cent to $7.10.

The KBW bank index declined 2.8 per cent. More than four-fifths of stocks traded on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq were lower, while all 10 SP sectors fell by 5pm Irish time.

However, gold prices climbed more than 3 per cent, creating one of the few bright spots on Wall Street.

The benchmark SP 500 index was down 6.3 per cent in May. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg)