By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Standard Chartered, Royal Dutch Shell among big decliners
U.K. stocks hit their lowest in more than three years Tuesday,
with investors dumping so-called risk assets on worries about the
persistent loss in oil prices and slowing in global growth.
The U.K's FTSE 100 ended down 1% at 5,632.19, the lowest close
since November 2012, FactSet data showed. Mining, oil and gas and
finance shares ended in the red, but consumer-service issues gained
ground.
The index swerved in and out of negative territory throughout
the session and dropped by as much as 1.6% before paring the
decline.
"I am running out of metaphors, similes and analogies to
describe the day-to-day machinations of equity markets," wrote
David Buik, market commentator at Panmure Gordon, in an online
post. "Neurotic is not a strong enough adjective to describe
traders' mood. Hysterical may be too strong -- perhaps somewhere in
between."
Banks: British blue-chips fell alongside the broader European
equity market
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-get-clobbered-again-as-banks-slump-2016-02-09).
The Stoxx 600 benchmark has been dragged to its lowest since 2013,
with bank stocks among the worst performing issues.
The sector is "being singled out for stress from a dangerous
cocktail of slowing economic growth, more widespread use of
negative interest rates, financial market turbulence, a protracted
commodity market depression (notably oil) and rising bad loans
(from commodity exposure) which could affect their ability to repay
debt," said Accendo Markets analysts Mike van Dulken and Augustin
Eden in a note.
Read:Why a selloff in European banks is ominous
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-a-selloff-in-european-banks-is-ominous-2016-02-07)
"European banks have spent the first part of the week
hemorrhaging their market cap, while in contrast U.K. banks have
fared much better," said Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG, in
a note.
Read:U.S.-listed bank stocks extend slide toward multiyear lows
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bank-stocks-extend-slide-toward-multiyear-lows-2016-02-09)
FTSE 100-listed bank shares still followed their regional peers
lower Tuesday. Asia-focused Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.LN) lost
5.5% and Barclays PLC (BCS) (BCS)ended 4.7% lower. Royal Bank of
Scotland PLC (RBS.LN) (RBS.LN) lost 2.2%, and HSBC PLC (HSBA.LN)
(HSBA.LN) moved down 1.4%.
A stock selloff on Monday across Europe and in the U.S. spilled
over into Asian trade Tuesday, though China's markets were closed
for the Lunar New Year holiday. The session left Japanese stocks
down more than 5%, the yen climbing against the U.S. dollar and the
yield on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond in negative
territory for the first time.
U.S. stocks were lower
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wall-street-scrabbles-for-direction-with-one-eye-on-yellen-2016-02-09)
on Tuesday.
Energy movers: Oil prices turned lower
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eia-lowers-2016-wti-brent-oil-price-forecasts-2016-02-09).
West Texas Intermediate late in Europe's trading day fell more than
3%, while Brent crude tumbled more than 5%.
London-listed oil stocks ended in the red. BP PLC (BP.LN)
(BP.LN) fell 2.7%, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) (RDSB.LN) slid
4% and BG Group PLC (BG.LN) pushed out a 2.5% decline.
Other movers: TUI AG shares fell 1.4% after the travel operator
posted a wider net loss of 184 million euros
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tui-reaffirms-fiscal-2016-earnings-outlook-2016-02-09)
($199.2 million) compared with the year-ago period. The company
said demand for Turkey has declined, with summer 2016 bookings down
about 40%. First-quarter underlying earnings, however, rose
7.2%.
J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) shares reversed course and slipped
0.2%. Shares had risen after the supermarket chain's market share
rose to 16.8%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sainsbury-sales-rise-for-sixth-period-in-a-row-2016-02-09)
in the 12 weeks ended Jan. 31, according to a survey compiled by
Kantar Worldpanel.
Retail stocks overall advanced after the British Retail
Consortium said retail sales rose 3.3% in January. "Following on
from a somewhat disappointing Christmas period for retailers, the
new year kicked off to a strong start," said Helen Dickinson, chief
executive of the British Retail Consortium, in a statement. "This
was the best performance for retailers since September and ahead of
the three and 12-month averages."
You're invited to Investing Insights: A global markets survival
guide
If you'll be in London on Tuesday, Feb. 23, you're invited to
join us for an evening of cocktails and conversation on the topics
of shifting monetary policy, growth, currencies, and the outlook
for investing opportunities and risks in European and global
markets.
Our panelists for the evening will include MarketWatch Personal
Finance and Investing Columnist Robert Powell; Mark Hulbert, Editor
of the Hulbert Financial Digest; and Virginie Maisonneuve, Founder
and Managing Director of Maisonneuve Global Advisors.
The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are
required. For more information or to RSVP for the event, please
email (MarketWatchevent@wsj.com).
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 09, 2016 13:17 ET (18:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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