Hot Features
Premium
Register to chat with like-minded investors on our interactive forums.
European indices have taken a bit of a tumble on Monday with Germany’s DAX 30, France’s CAC 40 and the UK’s FTSE 100, despite the tumbling pound which has lately led to gains, all down. Around the rest of the continent the picture has largely been the same as concerns over Italy, ‘hard’ Brexit and protectionist measures the Trump administration may take towards European imports weigh on sentiment.
Italy’s FTSE MIB has been one of the heaviest fallers with a loss of 1.26% for the day. One of the major drags on European indices has been banking stocks, with investors concerned over their exposure to Italy’s general finances, its banking sector in particular. Canadian ratings agency DBRS has cut its rating on Italian sovereign debt, again raising the spectre of how serious the country’s financial issues are.
All of the banks on the MIB are down today, ranging between losses of 0.37% (Mediobanca) and 2.37% (Banca Bpm). Automotive manufacturers are also suffering losses across Europe after statements by Trump that he would impose additional tariffs on cars sold by companies such as BMW, who manufacture smaller models in Mexico for sale in the U.S. Fiat Chrysler is down over 4% today with the additional negative impact of U.S. authorities opening investigations into claims that, similar to the recent Volkswagen scandal, the Italian company also cheated on emissions tests. Investment company Exor, which owns a significant stake in Fiat is down 4.29% as well.
In Amsterdam the AEX has lost 0.77% with HR company Randstad the heaviest faller with a loss of 1.9%. the AEX has 3 insurance companies as constituents and all have fallen to significant losses today. Aegon is down 1.78%, ING Group 1.85% and NN Group 0.47%. Bank ABN Amro has lost 0.75% and the day’s other big loser is telecom Altice, down 1.61%.
Maritime infrastructure-focused construction company Royal Boskalis Westminster has the day’s biggest gain, up 1.11% while steelmaker ArcelorMittal is up 0.83%.
The ATX is down 0.41% in Vienna with lighting group Zumtobel down 2.69%. Erste Group Bank and Raiffeissen Bank are down by 0.9% and 0.81% respectively and insurer UNIQA by 0.96%. Catering company Do & Co. is the biggest riser with a return of 0.93% for the day.
Sweden’s OMX 30 finished Monday down 0.58%. The biggest faller was Hennes & Mauritz which lost 2.96% after Q4 results came in behind forecast, despite showing growth. Digital security company Fingerprint Cards gained 3.57%.
