Investing.com - European stocks closed sharply lower Monday, as concerns over debt woes in Spain and Greece continued , while investors anticipated the outcome of a key meeting of European Union finance ministers in Luxemburg taking place today.
At the close of European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 plunged 1.39%, France’s CAC 40 slid 1.45%, while Germany’s DAX 30 tumbled 1.44%.
Markets were jittery regarding the outcome of a meeting in Luxemburg and as German Chancelor Angela Merkel was to make her first trip to Greece since July 2007 on Tuesday.
Merkel's visit coincides with deliberations among Greece's troika of international creditors - the ECB, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund - on whether the country will receive its next installment of aid.
Investor confidence was also hit by data showing that the Sentix index of investor confidence in the euro zone for October improved less-than-expected, ticking up to minus 22 from a reading of minus 23.2 the previous month.
Financial stocks remained broadly lower, as shares in French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale tumbled 1.32% and 2.06%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank retreated 1.89% and 2.55% respectively.
Peripheral lenders were also sharply lower, with shares in Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo plummeting 2.49% and 2.93%, extending earlier losses, while Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander slid 0.32% and 0.50%.
Meanwhile, French outdoor advertising company JCDecaux dove 3.92% after Goldman Sachs cut its recommendation on the stock to sell from buy and added the shares to its "conviction sell" list.
In London, FTSE 100 dropped 0.50%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower.
Shares in Barclays plunged 2.11% and Lloyds Banking tumbled 1.96%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC Holdings slid 1.90% and 0.69%.
Mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton also remained on the downside, plummeting 1.15% and 1.39%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys dropped 0.70% and 2.33%.
Elsewhere, Cookson Group dove 13.58% after the company said full-year results will be "materially" lower than forecast after the Engineered Ceramics division’s third-quarter performance was weaker than expected.
In the U.S., equity markets followed lower with the Dow Jones down 0.23%, the broad based S&P 500 dropped 0.45% while the tech heavy Nasdaq fell 0.75%
Also Monday, official data showed that German industrial production fell 0.5% in August, less than the expected 0.8% decline, after a 1.2% increase the previous month.
Trading volumes were expected to be light on Monday, as bond markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for Columbus Day.
Investors are awaiting the Bank of Japan’s monthly report and a talk by ECB President Mario Draghi on Tuesday.