By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Stocks across Europe dropped Thursday,
mired in the red as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's
efforts to invigorate the struggling eurozone economy fell flat on
Thursday.
The ECB said it will hold its main lending rate at 0.05%, and
the interest rate paid on deposits left overnight at the ECB was
maintained at -0.2%. The rate on the ECB's marginal lending
facility also was kept at 0.3%.
Stimulus: Draghi, at his monthly news conference, said the
bank's program of purchasing asset-backed purchases, starting in
the fourth quarter, will last at least two years. He also said
targeted long-term refinancing operations, or TLTROs, will have a
"sizable" impact on the ECB's balance sheet. Read live blog of
Draghi's conference.
A raft of recent data have highlighted worsening economic
conditions in the region, including Wednesday's report showing
manufacturing-sector activity in Germany -- Europe's biggest
economy -- hit a 15-month low.
Markets: The Stoxx Europe 600 hit intraday lows as Draghi spoke,
and was down 1.2% at 336.19 in broad-based losses.
The market has a "disdain for any policy's effectiveness apart
from a [quantitative easing] program and thus today's subsequent
sell-off is not surprising," said Joshua Mahony, research analyst
at Alpari UK, in a note. "Until there are any signs that these
programs work, markets are unlikely to be overwhelmed by their
implementation."
The European oil and gas group stumbled 1%. The move came as
crude-oil futures slid below $90 a barrel for the first time since
April 2013 after Saudi Arabia said it will cut the selling price of
its oil.
The euro (EURUSD) briefly hit an intraday high at $1.2693 after
Draghi said skepticism about the sustainability of the share
currency in Germany as well as in countries undergoing strict
austerity is understandable, but that the shared currency isn't
going away.
"I would only repeat that the euro is irreversible," he said.
The euro later traded at $1.2630 compared with $1.2618 late
Wednesday.
Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.9% and France's CAC 40 lost 2%. The
U.K.'s FTSE 100 gave up 0.7%.
Among individual stocks, Bayer AG said it sold $7 billion worth
of bonds in an effort to finance its purchase of Merck & Co.'s
(MRK) over-the-counter medicine business. Shares of Bayer were down
1.2%.
In Frankfurt, Rocket Internet AG shares made their trading
debut. They were at 39 euros ($49.46) in afternoon action, down
from their issue price of EUR42.50.
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