Car makers drive losses in European indices

Eurostoxx 50: 2,098.49 (–41.92) Frankfurt DAX: 5,433.80 (–137.88) Paris CAC: 2,935.82 (–48.23)EUROPEAN STOCKS retreated yesterday, as officials said they plan to return to Athens next week after three days of consultations failed to produce a solution to the country's debt crisis.

“There is still nervousness in the market,” said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, an equity strategist at Deutsche Postbank in Bonn.

“There’s fear about what will come out of the FOMC meeting and about what’s coming up with Greece. The Greek problems will need time to be solved. We still have a long and difficult way to go,” he added.

The European Union said that a “full mission” of officials from the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund and EU will return to Athens next week after talks with Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos made “good progress”.

Bank of England officials considered ways of adding stimulus to the economy this month and most of them said an expansion of their £200 billion bond purchase program is “increasingly probable”.

Peugeot, Europe’s second-largest car maker, slid 5.4 per cent to €17.08 and Volkswagen preferred shares slipped 3.1 per cent to €101.

BMW and Daimler, the world’s biggest makers of luxury cars, declined 3 per cent to €55.92 and 3.7 per cent to €35.43, respectively.

Fiat fell 5.7 per cent as Moody’s Investors Service downgraded its corporate family rating.

BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, fell 4.3 per cent to 1,881.50p, while Rio Tinto retreated 4.4 per cent to 3,382.50p.

Deutsche Bank fell 2.3 per cent to €23.89 as chief financial officer Stefan Krause said Germany’s biggest bank is “fighting” to meet its goal of €10 billion in operating pretax profit this year.

Mediobanca sank 2.8 per cent to €5.53 as Italy’s biggest publicly traded investment bank reported a quarterly loss after writing down the value of Greek bonds.

Lufthansa fell 5.3 per cent to €9.77, the lowest price since August 2009, as the airline was downgraded to “sell” at Deutsche Bank.

Stada Arzneimittel slumped 17 per cent to €19.37, the largest decline in three years.

Metro rallied for a second day, climbing 1.7 per cent to €31.39. – (Bloomberg)