The stock indices of the largest Western European countries are declining at the beginning of trading on Monday, followed by bank stocks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 composite index of Europe’s largest companies was down 0.6 percent at 11:18 a.m. and stood at 433.8 points.
Germany’s DAX indicator fell 0.4% from market opening, Britain’s FTSE 100 – 0.8%, France’s CAC 40 – 0.3%. Spain’s IBEX 35 lost 1%, Italy’s FTSE MIB – 0.7%.
It was announced Sunday that Swiss bank UBS is buying struggling Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.25 billion). UBS will pay 0.76 francs per Credit Suisse share. The deal will be paid in full in cash.
In the course of trading on Monday quotations of Credit Suisse shares collapsed by almost 60% – down to 0.78 francs. Price of UBS securities fell by 9.9%. The UBS shares are the leaders of the decrease among the companies included in the calculation of the Stoxx 600.
Shares of other European banks are also getting cheaper: ING down 6.6%, Deutsche Bank down 6.4%, Intermediate Capital Group down 4.8%, Barclays down 4.7%, Standard Chartered down 4.1%, HSBC down 3.1%, NatWest down 3% and Commerzbank down 3.7%, Societe Generale – 4.4%, Credit Agricole – 1.9%, BPER Banca – 3.8%, UniCredit – 2.3%, Banco de Sabadell – 3.7%, Unicaja Banco – 3.3%, CaixaBank – 2%, Banco Santander – 1.7%.
Oil prices were followed by declines in fuel producers, including Repsol down 1.9%, BP Plc (SPB: BP) down 0.5%, Shell (SPB: RDS.A) down 1.4%, TotalEnergies (SPB: TOT) down 1.1%.
The price of Electrolux securities is increasing by 2.7%. The Swedish household appliances maker said its financial targets remain unchanged. In particular, the company is going to reach 6% operating profit margin in the mid-term.
Meanwhile, the growth rate of producer prices (PPI) in Germany slowed to its lowest in seventeen months in February, according to the country’s statistical office. The index rose 15.8% compared to the same month last year thanks to a less significant increase in energy costs.
Analysts had expected a 14.5% increase, according to Trading Economics.
The PPI index in February relative to the previous month decreased by 0.3%. Thus, it declined for the fifth month in a row.
