European stocks plunged on midday Tuesday, led by Milan’s FTSE MIB index as Italian general election gridlock spurred concerns over the outlook of the European debt crisis, driving Italy’s borrowing costs to a three-month high.
The Italian FTSE MIB index plummeted 4.47% to 15,621.41 points in Tuesday’s afternoon, amid the stalemate in Italy’s general elections, as anti-reform party’s may capture the critical vote later today, striking fears of Eurozone stability.
Consequently, Italy’s benchmark 10-year bond yield jumped 29 basis points to 4.77%. The Rome-based Treasury saw the yield on its 6-month bill surge to 1.237 percent as it sold 8.75 billion euros, compared with 0.731 percent in the prior auction.
Elsewhere, the Spanish IBEX 35 index slid 2.77% to 8,016.55 points. Frankfurt’s DAX retreated 1.78% to 7635.25. The British FTSE 100 dropped 1.25% to 6276.25 points. The French CAC40 slid 2.17% to 3640.62 points. Data as of 06:25 ET
The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 1.21% to 284.95, while the Stoxx 50 slid 2.72% to 2579.78. The drop was mainly driven by a slump in European banks’ shares.
UniCredit, Italy’s biggest lender slid 8.7 percent to 3.82 euros, and Intesa Sanpaolo, the second-largest, falling 9 percent to 1.23 euros. Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl slumped 5.72 percent to 52 euro cents.
Mediolanum SPA, the Italian financial-services company partly owned by Silvio Berlusconi, plunged 8.71 percent to 4.18 euros. Mediaset SPA, the broadcaster controlled by the former prime minister, sank 6.4 percent to 1.61 euros.
France`s Societe Generale lost 5.15 percent to 28.29 euros, Deutsche Bank dropped 2.04 percent to 34.53 euros, while Britain’s Barclays slumped 4.09 percent to 298.650 pound.
In global currency trading, the Euro struck an intra-day low of 1.30472 against the U.S dollar, the lowest since January 7, before recovering to 1.30750 on midday.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.