Business | Markets
Banks lead world markets lower
World stock markets fell on Tuesday ahead of expected further losses on Wall Street amid gloom about prospects for the world economy and the banking system.
- AP
- Published: 00:05 November 19, 2008
London: World stock markets fell on Tuesday ahead of expected further losses on Wall Street amid gloom about prospects for the world economy and the banking system.
The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 70.72 points, or 1.7 per cent, at 4,061.44, while Germany's DAX was 98.00, or 2.2 per cent, lower at 4,459.27. The CAC-40 in France was down 63.10, or 2.0 per cent, at 3,118.93.
Ahead of the market opening in New York, Dow Jones industrial futures fell 149, or 1.8 per cent, to 8,110, while Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 15.60, or 1.83 per cent, to 835.40.
Badly hit
Banks across Europe were particularly badly hit by recession fears after Citigroup announced it would cut thousands of jobs, with Barclays plc down 7.3 per cent, HBOS plc another 8.6 per cent, Deutsche Bank AG 5.3 per cent and Commerzbank AG 5.4 per cent.
In Asia too, banks were badly hit, with Japanese mega bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. down 7 per cent, while China Construction Bank fell 6 per cent as investors soured on Bank of America's deal to increase its stake in the Chinese company.
'Uncertainty'
"There is huge uncertainty hanging over the markets' head, and banks are really out of favour," said Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners.
The morning losses in Europe follow similar drops in Asia.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock average fell 194.17 points, or 2.3 per cent to 8,328.41, a day after confirmation that Japan, the world's second largest economy, had slipped into a recession. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 4.5 per cent to 13,131.23.
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