European close Market Report: New debt fears sink markets

Date: Friday 04 Jun 2010

The German, French and Swiss markets all closed more than 100 points lower on fears Hungary’s economy is the latest to run into problems.

The drop came after Peter Szijjarto, spokesman for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was quoted as saying that the economy had been left in a “grave situation.” “It’s clear that the economy is in a very grave situation,” Szijjarto said today in Budapest. “It’s not an exaggeration at all” to talk about a default, he added.

“In Hungary, the previous government falsified data. In Greece, they also falsified data. In Greece the moment of truth has arrived. Hungary is still before that,” he is reported to have said. “The government is prepared to avoid the road that Greece has been down; in other words, we won’t hesitate to act after the truth becomes known.”

Banking shares were leading the decline, with Credit Agricole and Deutsche Bankamong the worst performers.

Societe Generale was the biggest faller in Paris, down almost 8%, on market talk that it has made losses in derivatives trading.

On the positive side, BP recovered further on more optimistic reports from the Gulf of Mexico on its attempts to curb the oil spillage. The firm says it has placed a LMRP cap on the leak, but added that it is too early to say if the next part of the plan, to syphon the oil up to the surface, would work.

Across the markets, the Dax in Frankfurt closed down 116 points at 5,939, with the Cac in Paris falling 102 points to 3,456. The Swiss market dropped 108 points to 6,311.

Anglo-Swedish drugs giant AstraZeneca has submitted a marketing authorisation application (MAA) to the European Union for its cardiovascular drug Axanum.

On the economic front, the eurozone grew by 0.2% in the first quarter, figures from the EU statistics agency Eurostat confirmed on Friday, in line with a previous estimate.

The new figures also showed that the economy of the 16 countries that use the euro currency grew by 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2009, against a previous estimate of 0.2%. The economy of the 27 EU countries also grew by 0.2% in the first quarter, Eurostat said, confirming previous its estimate.


CAC 40 - Risers
ST Microelectronics (STM) € 6.61 +0.33%
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) € 2.13 +0.14%

CAC 40 - Fallers
Societe Generale (GLE) € 31.58 -7.58%
BNP Paribas (BNP) € 43.13 -5.97%
Credit Agricole (ACA) € 8.35 -5.11%
AXA (CS) € 12.53 -5.04%
Saint Gobain (SGO) € 30.61 -4.06%
Renault (RNO) € 29.19 -3.82%
Unibail-Rodamco (UL) € 126.75 -3.65%
Dexia (DEXB) € 3.13 -3.64%
Vinci (DG) € 36.16 -3.48%
Michelin (ML) € 54.71 -3.22%