For a third consecutive day there was a drop in European stocks. This might have been due to the fact that earnings missed estimates from Clariant AC (CLN) (a Swiss chemical maker) to Merck KGA (MRK) (second largest drug manufacturer in Germany). The former plummeted 13 percent and the latter, 5.1 percent. Other dives were encountered by PSA Peugeot Citroen (8.3 percent) as well as a lowering of financial shares from Banco Santander SA.
Political Problems?
Possibly the political implications of American politicians fighting over the country’s debt limit had an impact too. The country’s index futures along with Asian shares however, remained pretty much static.
Stock Drop
Stoxx Europe 600 Index encountered a 0.5 percent sliding in London. In February, however, the opposite was very much the case as it experienced a high. According to an article in Bloomberg this may have been due to “concern that Europe’s fiscal crisis will derail the economic recovery and speculation that U.S. lawmakers will fail to agree on increasing the nation’s debt ceiling by next week’s deadline.” As pointed out by BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets research head Philippe Gijsels, “the earnings season has revealed that weakness in the global economy remains. There have been some misses in terms of guidance and this shows us we’re in a mid-cycle slowdown with companies being held hostage by economic conditions.”
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