Europe: Stocks mostly drop on bank contagion fears

EUROPEAN stock markets mostly fell at the open on Tuesday (Mar 14), as investors fretted over contagion fears after the collapse of two US lenders.

The failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last Friday, followed by Signature Bank days later, has sent shockwaves across trading floors worldwide.

In initial deals, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 0.6 per cent to 7,503.85 points compared with Monday’s close.

HSBC topped the fallers board, sliding 2.5 per cent one day after it agreed to buy SVB’s UK division.

In the eurozone, the Paris CAC 40 index retreated 0.2 per cent to 7,001.31, with Credit Agricole dipping 1.4 per cent in value.

Frankfurt’s DAX, however, rose nearly 0.1 per cent to 14,968.48, but Commerzbank dipped 0.8 per cent.

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“Bank shares globally continued to feel the reverberations from the fallout from the Silicon Valley Bank issue, with general sentiment weakening as a result,” said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor. AFP