(menafn – ecpulse)
European shares plunged at the close on Friday, following downbeat economic reports from the U.S. economy to China. Consumer confidence in unexpectedly cooled in early-April, China's growth slowed in the first quarter and cost of insuring against Spanish default climbed to an all-time record on Friday.
European lenders slumped as concerns mounted about the Spanish banking sectors and Spain's CDS rose to 498 bps according to CMA, The benchmark index for Europe, the STOXX 600 ended 1.54% lower to 253.40, heading for its longest streak of weekly losses since August, while STOXX 50 ended 2.58% down at 2291.51.
CAC 40 Index
The French index fell 80.70 points or 2.47% to finally close at 3189.09. The index started the session at 3264.74 and recorded throughout the day its highest level at 3267.54 and its lowest level at 3180.19.
The worst performing shares in terms of subtracted value for the index were led by the BNP Paribas SA share as it plummeted 5.22% to end at €30.40, following is the Total SA share as it shed 1.67% to settle at €36.42, while coming in third is the Schneider Electric SA share which slumped 3.43% to close at €45.91.
At close and from 40 shares on the French benchmark, only L'Oreal SA share inclined 1.15% to settle at €92.14.
DAX Index
German equities retreated today as the benchmark index DAX 30 closed the session lower by 159.34 points or 2.36% at 6583.90. The index started the session at 5732.07 and recorded throughout the day its highest level at 6743.01 and its lowest level at 6552.32.
The worst performing shares in terms of subtracted value for the index were led by the Deutsche Boerse AG share as it plummeted 4.38% to end at €47.17, following is the Commerzbank AG share as it shed 4.25% to settle at €1.64, while coming in third is the Daimler AG share which slumped 3.53% to close at €40.29.
FTSE 100 Index
The British benchmark index ended the day lower to settle at 5651.79 with a loss of 58.67 points or 1.03%. The index started the session at 5710.46 and recorded throughout the day its highest level at 5710.82 and its lowest level at 5643.51.
The worst performing shares in terms of subtracted value for the index were led by the Barclays PLC share as it plummeted 3.83% to end at £214.90, following is the GlaxoSmithKline AG share as it shed 1.27% to settle at £1402.00, while coming in third is the HSBC Holdings PLC share which slumped 0.88% to close at £543.20.
Best performing stocks within the index were the Shire PLC share which inclined 0.36% to settle at £1959.00, in second place came the EVRAZ PLC share which closed higher by 2.27% at £365.50 and in the third place came the WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC share which inclined 0.41% to settle at £292.60.
