Europe: Equities slide at open on Turkey crisis

[LONDON] European stocks sank Monday in opening deals on fears over Turkey's currency crisis, while Frankfurt also fell with chemicals giant Bayer plunging on last week's Monsanto cancer ruling.

"Clearly Turkey's situation is another global risk," said Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADS Securities.

"Even though the country itself has limited ties with the rest of the world, a spreading of the crisis to Europe via its banks' exposure is a major concern."

In initial deals, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top blue-chip firms dipped 0.2 per cent to 7,648.90 points compared with Friday's closing level.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 dropped 0.6 per cent to 12,346.75 points, with Bayer diving almost 10 per cent as investors reacted to a shock US ruling against Monsanto, which merged with the German firm this year.

The Paris CAC 40 meanwhile lost 0.2 per cent to 5,402.41 points.

A California jury on Friday awarded a dying groundskeeper damages of almost US$290 million, saying Monsanto should have warned that its flagship Roundup weedkiller could cause cancer.

AFP