EUROPE MARKETS: Spanish Stocks Lead European Selloff After Deadly Terrorists Attack In Barcelona
August 18 2017 - 4:35AM
Dow Jones News
By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
U.S. political worries also pressuring European stocks
Spanish stocks slumped Friday, fronting a selloff across
European equity markets a day after a terrorist attack killed at
least 13 people in the heart of Barcelona.
More than 100 people were injured in Spain's second-largest city
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/islamic-state-takes-credit-for-deadly-barcelona-attack-on-pedestrians-2017-08-17)
in a late Thursday's afternoon attack claimed by Islamic State, and
the death toll could rise, officials said. Hours later, police
killed five alleged terrorists as they responded to a separate
attack that hurt seven people in Cambrils, a town southwest of
Barcelona, the Catalan government said.
In Madrid, the IBEX 35 dropped 1.1% to 10,327, and had fallen by
as much as 1.7% in early trade, as all but two components were
lower. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 1% to 3763.30.
"Airlines bore the brunt of a risk-off turn on the open," said
ETX Capital's senior market analyst Neil Wilson in a note. "As
we've seen over the last couple of years in Europe, these kinds of
atrocities affect tourism and will hit airline earnings. Investors
are concerned that demand will fall over the rest of the year,
which was already looking like it would be a tough patch for the
industry."
Shares of Air France-KLM SA (AF.FR) were pulled down 2.9%,
Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) gave up 2.6% and Deutsche Lufthansa AG
(LHA.XE) moved 1.7% lower. International Consolidated Airlines
Group SA (IAG.LN) , which runs British Airways, fell 2.4%, and
easyJet PLC (EZJ.LN) lost 2.5%.
On the IBEX 35, there was a 2.6% drop in shares of Melia Hotels
International SA (MEL.MC) . Bank stocks were in the red, with Banco
de Sabadell SA (SAB.MC) and Banco Santander SA (SAN) down 1.8% and
1.6%, respectively. Supermarket chain Distribuidora Internacional
de Alimentacion SA (DIA.MC) was down 2.9%.
European stocks were also under pressure following Wall Street's
selloff
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-looks-set-to-break-4-day-win-streak-as-fed-minutes-sink-in-2017-08-17)
on Thursday on worries that White House economic adviser Gary Cohn
would leave his role, and deal a blow to U.S. President Donald
Trump's plan for a tax-code overhaul. The White House said Thursday
that Cohn is staying, but Cohn was reportedly upset by Trump's
response to last weekend's deadly white supremacist rally in
Charlottesville, Va.
"Markets had originally given President Trump the benefit of the
doubt and hoped his abrasive style would cut through the political
web and get things done. However, far from being a force for
change, seven months into his presidency there has been no
noticeable policy success and U.S. politics is more divided than
ever," said Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive
Investor, in a note.
"Dissolving his infrastructure council before it even began
highlights just how volatile the situation is and the question for
investors is changing from what support Trump may deliver to
markets to what risk he brings," she said.
The Stoxx Europe 600 was on course for a weekly rise of
0.3%.
Indexes: France's CAC 40 index fell 0.9% to 5,087 and Germany's
DAX 30 index fell 0.8% to 12,105. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index dropped
0.9% to 7,322.85.
The euro bought $1.1756,up from $1.1725 late Thursday in New
York.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 18, 2017 05:20 ET (09:20 GMT)
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