Investing.com – European stock markets were broadly lower on Monday ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels, while markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for a holiday.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 slumped 0.46%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.35%, while Germany's DAX was down 0.18%.
Later in the day, European finance ministers were to meet in Brussels to discuss an increase in the effective lending capacity of the euro zone’s bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
Shares in the financial sector performed poorly with shares in France’s second largest lender Societe Generale tumbling 2.32%. Spain’s second biggest bank BBVA saw shares plunge 1.79%, while shares in British banking giant Barclays dropped 2.06%.
Elsewhere, shares in Spain’s largest lender Banco Santander plummeted 2.87% after Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that the bank’s chief executive Alfredo Saenz may have to leave his current position, following a ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court.
According to the report, the court has barred Saenz from working for a bank after he was found guilty of fraud while at a previous role as chairman of Banco Espanol de Credito.
Meanwhile, shares in Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding climbed 1.27% after it announced that its chief financial officer would step down at the end of March and be replaced by ThyssenKrupp’s CFO Alan Hippe. Shares in ThyssenKrupp fell 1.32% following the news.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 shed 0.18% as crude oil and metal prices were pressured lower after China tightened monetary policy on Friday.
Shares in the world’s largest mining group BHP Billiton slumped 1.40%, silver producer Fresnillo saw shares plunge 4.33%, while shares in copper producer Xstrata tumbled 1.91%.
However, shares in oil giant British Petroleum jumped 1.66% after it agreed to swap a USD7.8 billion stake in the company for a 9.5% share of Russian oil major Rosneft.
Meanwhile, shares in the London Stock Exchange Group dropped 1.47% after Citigroup downgraded the stock to ‘sell’.
In the U.S., markets were to remain closed in observance of Martin Luther King Day.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 slumped 0.46%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.35%, while Germany's DAX was down 0.18%.
Later in the day, European finance ministers were to meet in Brussels to discuss an increase in the effective lending capacity of the euro zone’s bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
Shares in the financial sector performed poorly with shares in France’s second largest lender Societe Generale tumbling 2.32%. Spain’s second biggest bank BBVA saw shares plunge 1.79%, while shares in British banking giant Barclays dropped 2.06%.
Elsewhere, shares in Spain’s largest lender Banco Santander plummeted 2.87% after Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that the bank’s chief executive Alfredo Saenz may have to leave his current position, following a ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court.
According to the report, the court has barred Saenz from working for a bank after he was found guilty of fraud while at a previous role as chairman of Banco Espanol de Credito.
Meanwhile, shares in Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding climbed 1.27% after it announced that its chief financial officer would step down at the end of March and be replaced by ThyssenKrupp’s CFO Alan Hippe. Shares in ThyssenKrupp fell 1.32% following the news.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 shed 0.18% as crude oil and metal prices were pressured lower after China tightened monetary policy on Friday.
Shares in the world’s largest mining group BHP Billiton slumped 1.40%, silver producer Fresnillo saw shares plunge 4.33%, while shares in copper producer Xstrata tumbled 1.91%.
However, shares in oil giant British Petroleum jumped 1.66% after it agreed to swap a USD7.8 billion stake in the company for a 9.5% share of Russian oil major Rosneft.
Meanwhile, shares in the London Stock Exchange Group dropped 1.47% after Citigroup downgraded the stock to ‘sell’.
In the U.S., markets were to remain closed in observance of Martin Luther King Day.