European stocks lower as E.Z. worries dominate; DAX tumbles 1.41%

Investing.com - European stocks were sharply lower on Monday, as concerns over debt woes in Spain and Greece persisted ahead of a key meeting of European Union finance ministers in Luxemburg later in the day.

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 plunged 1.31%, France’s CAC 40 plummeted 1.33%, while Germany’s DAX 30 tumbled 1.41%.

Markets were jittery ahead of the meeting in Luxemburg and as German Chancelor Angela Merkel was to make her first trip to Greece since July 2007 on Tuesday.

Merkel's visit coincides with deliberations among Greece's troika of international creditors - the ECB, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund - on whether the country will receive its next installment of aid.

Stocks had rallied on Friday after data showed that the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to its lowest level in nearly four years.

Financial stocks were broadly lower, as shares in French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale tumbled 1.37% and 1.94%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank retreated 1.80% and 2.06% respectively.

Peripheral lenders added to losses, with shares in Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo plummeting 1.36% and 2.16%, while Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander slid 0.64% and 1.16%.

Meanwhile, French outdoor advertising company JCDecaux plunged 3.51% after Goldman Sachs cut its recommendation on the stock to sell from buy and added the shares to its "conviction sell" list.

In London, FTSE 100 dropped 0.86%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower.

Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled 2.24% and Barclays plunged 2.06%, while Lloyds Banking and HSBC Holdings slumped 1.96% and 0.78%.

Mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were also on the downside, plummeting 1.93% and 1.76%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys dropped 1.37% and 2.57%.

Elsewhere, Cookson Group dove 13.82% after the company said full-year results will be "materially" lower than forecast after the Engineered Ceramics division’s third-quarter performance was weaker than expected.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.44% loss, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.47% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.58% decline.

Trading volumes were expected to be light on Monday, as markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for Columbus Day.

Later in the day, the euro zone was to release data on investor confidence, while Germany was to publish data on industrial production.