Euro stocks plunge on Fed words, Spanish auction; DAX slammed 2.84%
Published Apr 04, 2012 01:24PM ET
At the close European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 2.46%, France's CAC 40 dropped 2.74%, while Germany’s DAX traded lower by 2.84%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 gave back 2.30%.
Igniting the risk off flight, yesterday the Federal Reserve revealed in its meeting minutes that it is holding off from increasing monetary easing, unless prices climb at a rate slower than its 2% target.
Meanwhile, Spain sold EUR2.6 billion of bonds, near the minimum target and borrowing costs increased in its first auction.
Spain had set a range of EUR2.5 billion to EUR3.5 billion for the sale.
In additional euro zone news, the ECB kept its interest rate unchanged at the record low of 1%.
Contraction continues in the euro zone with retail sales declining 0.1% and a purchasing managers composite index fell from 49.3 to 49.1 in March weighing on equities.
However, on the bullish front, Germany factory orders increased 0.3% but still missed the 1.5% increase forecasted by analysts.
Volvo gave back 4.8% after a report indicated truck orders were below expectations for North America.
In addition, automakers Peugot and Porsche fell 5.6% and 2.3% respectively on decreased U.S. auto sales.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals dropped 3.4% after it was sued by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer for a patent infringement.
U.S. stocks are trading lower with the Dow off 1.11%, the S&P 500 down 1.12% and the Nasdaq slipping 1.72%.
Traders are awaiting German industrial production, The Bank of England`s interest rate and statement, as well as U.S. unemployment claims on Thursday.
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Written By: Investing.com
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