Investing.com - European shares dropped from a one week high Wednesday after rating agency Fitch fanned credit fear flames by stating the European Central Bank must do more to stem the regions debt crisis.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX gave back 0.34%, France's CAC 40 dropped 0.19%, while Germany's DAX 30 closed down 0.17%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 fell 0.45%.
The sell off was ignited when David Riley, head of Fitch's sovereign debt unit, stated "The ECB should step up its government bond purchases to combat the debt crisis. We need to have a credible buyer put in place and we don't have that at the moment. The ECB needs to be more actively engaged, but it can't save the euro on its own. The crisis won't be over until we have a broad based economic recovery."
A German economic report indicated that Europe's largest economy contracted about 0.25% in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter. This further fanned the debt fears as Germany may be on the verge of a recession per the numbers.
However, Germany received bids for eur8.97 billion of five year notes, at an auction today, more than double the maximum target.
Oil and gas concerns led shares lower with Royal Dutch Shell falling 2.7%, Statoil giving back 1.6% and SBM offshore plummeting 5.7%.
Even auto tire company, Pirelli dropped 4.3% after American rival Goodyear stated it was seeing weakness in global demand.
In bullish news, Italian banks showed strength today with Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl soared 9.1% and Unicredit gained 5.5% after an upgrade at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. .
U.S. stocks were mixed in midday trading with the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower by 0.34%, the S&P 500 down 0.33% and the Nasdaq 100 bucking the trend by adding 0.13%.
Investors are anxiously awaiting the ECB's interest rate announcement and U.S. retail sales numbers, business inventories and the federal budget balance on Thursday.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX gave back 0.34%, France's CAC 40 dropped 0.19%, while Germany's DAX 30 closed down 0.17%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 fell 0.45%.
The sell off was ignited when David Riley, head of Fitch's sovereign debt unit, stated "The ECB should step up its government bond purchases to combat the debt crisis. We need to have a credible buyer put in place and we don't have that at the moment. The ECB needs to be more actively engaged, but it can't save the euro on its own. The crisis won't be over until we have a broad based economic recovery."
A German economic report indicated that Europe's largest economy contracted about 0.25% in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter. This further fanned the debt fears as Germany may be on the verge of a recession per the numbers.
However, Germany received bids for eur8.97 billion of five year notes, at an auction today, more than double the maximum target.
Oil and gas concerns led shares lower with Royal Dutch Shell falling 2.7%, Statoil giving back 1.6% and SBM offshore plummeting 5.7%.
Even auto tire company, Pirelli dropped 4.3% after American rival Goodyear stated it was seeing weakness in global demand.
In bullish news, Italian banks showed strength today with Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl soared 9.1% and Unicredit gained 5.5% after an upgrade at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. .
U.S. stocks were mixed in midday trading with the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower by 0.34%, the S&P 500 down 0.33% and the Nasdaq 100 bucking the trend by adding 0.13%.
Investors are anxiously awaiting the ECB's interest rate announcement and U.S. retail sales numbers, business inventories and the federal budget balance on Thursday.