Investing.com - European stock markets were sharply lower on Tuesday, as fresh concerns over the handling of the debt crisis in the euro zone weighed on market sentiment.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 plummeted 3.89%, France’s CAC 40 tumbled 3.64%, while Germany’s DAX 30 declined 3.87%.
Market sentiment was hit by uncertainty over how the package of anti-crisis measures agreed on at last Thursday’s European Union summit could be implemented.
Meanwhile, reports that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has called a referendum on the new aid package as well as surging Italian borrowing costs added to concerns.
The financial sector led losses as shares in France's Societe Generale plunged 12.23% and BNP Paribas plummeted 10.48%, while German lender Deutsche Bank tumbled 8.22%.
Italian banks were also broadly hit, with Unicredit shares dropping 5.67% and Intesa Sanpaolo sinking 8.60%. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse plunged 6.12% after posting disappointing third-quarter results and saying that it planned to cut about 1,500 jobs.
Elsewhere, Imperial Tobacco, the world's fourth biggest cigarette group, was down 1.62% after the ending of a price war in Spain and as the firm matched forecasts with a 5.1% rise in annual earnings.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 tumbled 2.37% tracking losses in energy stocks as data showing that Chinese manufacturing activity dropped to its lowest level since February 2009 weighed on the global economic outlook.
Mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton dropped 4.14% and 3.44%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys plummeted 6.16% and 5.01%.
Meanwhile, U.K. banks posted sharp losses, shadowing their European counterparts. Shares in Barclays plummeted 9.82% and the Royal Bank of Scotland plunged 8.25%, while Lloyds Banking and HSBC Holdings dropped 4.51% and 2.49% respectively.
Elsewhere, U.S. equity markets pointed to a sharply lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 1.11%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 1.65% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a decline of 1.58%.
Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management is to produce a report on U.S. manufacturing activity.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 plummeted 3.89%, France’s CAC 40 tumbled 3.64%, while Germany’s DAX 30 declined 3.87%.
Market sentiment was hit by uncertainty over how the package of anti-crisis measures agreed on at last Thursday’s European Union summit could be implemented.
Meanwhile, reports that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has called a referendum on the new aid package as well as surging Italian borrowing costs added to concerns.
The financial sector led losses as shares in France's Societe Generale plunged 12.23% and BNP Paribas plummeted 10.48%, while German lender Deutsche Bank tumbled 8.22%.
Italian banks were also broadly hit, with Unicredit shares dropping 5.67% and Intesa Sanpaolo sinking 8.60%. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse plunged 6.12% after posting disappointing third-quarter results and saying that it planned to cut about 1,500 jobs.
Elsewhere, Imperial Tobacco, the world's fourth biggest cigarette group, was down 1.62% after the ending of a price war in Spain and as the firm matched forecasts with a 5.1% rise in annual earnings.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 tumbled 2.37% tracking losses in energy stocks as data showing that Chinese manufacturing activity dropped to its lowest level since February 2009 weighed on the global economic outlook.
Mining giants Rio Tinto and Bhp Billiton dropped 4.14% and 3.44%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys plummeted 6.16% and 5.01%.
Meanwhile, U.K. banks posted sharp losses, shadowing their European counterparts. Shares in Barclays plummeted 9.82% and the Royal Bank of Scotland plunged 8.25%, while Lloyds Banking and HSBC Holdings dropped 4.51% and 2.49% respectively.
Elsewhere, U.S. equity markets pointed to a sharply lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a fall of 1.11%, S&P 500 futures signaled a 1.65% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a decline of 1.58%.
Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management is to produce a report on U.S. manufacturing activity.