European stocks post steepest weekly drop
Sunday, 27 September 2009
LONDON, Sept. 26 (Bloomberg): European stocks posted their steepest weekly drop since July as US reports on home sales and durable goods undermined speculation that the global economic recovery will be robust.
ArcelorMittal and Xstrata Plc led a retreat in basic- resources companies as metals prices fell in London. Liberty International Plc plunged 12 per cent, sending a gauge of property-related shares down by the most in more than four months. Hennes & Mauritz AB pulled retailers lower after reporting a deterioration in sales.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 2.4 per cent to 238.95 this week, as all 19 industry groups declined. A 51 per cent rally since March 9 has pushed the regional gauge's valuation to the highest level since June 2003, according to Bloomberg data.
"The market can't go up every day and it's come up significantly from its lows earlier this year," said Andrea Williams, a London-based fund manager at Royal London Asset Management, which oversees about $63 billion. "The trouble is you get various numbers, one day it's good and one day it's bad."
Reports this week showed an unexpected 2.7 drop in sales of US existing homes in August, spurring concern the housing market is struggling to recover. A separate Commerce Department report showed orders for US durable goods fell 2.4 per cent in August, signaling companies are planning to curb spending. Economists had forecast a 0.4 per cent increase.
Stocks also retreated after the Federal Reserve said it will reduce the size of its emergency programs meant to bolster credit markets, citing "continued improvements" in financial markets.
National benchmark indexes declined in all 18 western European markets except Greece. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 1.8 per cent and Germany's DAX slid 2.1 per cent. France's CAC 40 retreated 2.3 per cent.
ArcelorMittal sank 7.9 per cent, the steepest weekly retreat since May, as investors sold shares of basic-resource companies. Separately, the Financial Times reported Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal's predictions for a strong rebound in the world steel industry next year are too optimistic. The newspaper cited executives of major steel companies.
Xstrata, the world's fourth-largest copper producer, lost 6.3 per cent, as copper retreated for a fourth week on the London Metal Exchange. Antofagasta Plc, which owns copper mines in Chile, lost 4.1 per cent.
Shares of Liberty International sank 12 per cent. The U.K.'s largest shopping-center owner raised 280.5 million pounds ($461 million) by selling shares for the second time in five months, to help resume investments as the commercial property market recovers.
British Land Co., the U.K.'s second-largest real estate investment trust, dropped 10 per cent, while Land Securities Group Plc, the biggest REIT, declined 6.5 per cent.
ArcelorMittal and Xstrata Plc led a retreat in basic- resources companies as metals prices fell in London. Liberty International Plc plunged 12 per cent, sending a gauge of property-related shares down by the most in more than four months. Hennes & Mauritz AB pulled retailers lower after reporting a deterioration in sales.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 2.4 per cent to 238.95 this week, as all 19 industry groups declined. A 51 per cent rally since March 9 has pushed the regional gauge's valuation to the highest level since June 2003, according to Bloomberg data.
"The market can't go up every day and it's come up significantly from its lows earlier this year," said Andrea Williams, a London-based fund manager at Royal London Asset Management, which oversees about $63 billion. "The trouble is you get various numbers, one day it's good and one day it's bad."
Reports this week showed an unexpected 2.7 drop in sales of US existing homes in August, spurring concern the housing market is struggling to recover. A separate Commerce Department report showed orders for US durable goods fell 2.4 per cent in August, signaling companies are planning to curb spending. Economists had forecast a 0.4 per cent increase.
Stocks also retreated after the Federal Reserve said it will reduce the size of its emergency programs meant to bolster credit markets, citing "continued improvements" in financial markets.
National benchmark indexes declined in all 18 western European markets except Greece. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 1.8 per cent and Germany's DAX slid 2.1 per cent. France's CAC 40 retreated 2.3 per cent.
ArcelorMittal sank 7.9 per cent, the steepest weekly retreat since May, as investors sold shares of basic-resource companies. Separately, the Financial Times reported Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal's predictions for a strong rebound in the world steel industry next year are too optimistic. The newspaper cited executives of major steel companies.
Xstrata, the world's fourth-largest copper producer, lost 6.3 per cent, as copper retreated for a fourth week on the London Metal Exchange. Antofagasta Plc, which owns copper mines in Chile, lost 4.1 per cent.
Shares of Liberty International sank 12 per cent. The U.K.'s largest shopping-center owner raised 280.5 million pounds ($461 million) by selling shares for the second time in five months, to help resume investments as the commercial property market recovers.
British Land Co., the U.K.'s second-largest real estate investment trust, dropped 10 per cent, while Land Securities Group Plc, the biggest REIT, declined 6.5 per cent.