European Stocks Fall for Fourth Week; Antofagasta, Nokia Drop
Antofagasta Plc, the copper producer controlled by Chile’s Luksic family, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc paced a retreat in basic-resources companies as copper, gold and oil dropped. Ericsson AB, the world’s largest maker of wireless phone networks, and Nokia Oyj led technology shares lower.
“Investors are starting to realize that should all the recessionary scenarios become true, commodities companies will be the first to be negatively affected,” said Helge Rechberger, head of equity market research at Raiffeisen Zentralbank in Vienna.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index dropped 2.4 percent to 296.83 in the holiday-shortened week. The benchmark has fallen 26 percent from a June high as asset writedowns and credit losses at financial companies worldwide reached $195 billion and the U.S. economy moved closer to a recession.
National benchmarks decreased in all of the 18 western European markets. Germany’s DAX Index slipped 2 percent, while France’s CAC 40 lost 1.3 percent. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 declined 2.4 percent. The Stoxx 50 retreated 2.5 percent and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the euro region, sank 1.7 percent.
Commodities plunged. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities tumbled 8.3 percent in the past week, the most since at least 1956. After reaching records, gold plummeted more than $110 an ounce and crude oil tumbled $11 a barrel.
Antofagasta Tumbles
European markets were closed March 21 for the Good Friday holiday.
Antofagasta sank 17 percent in the past week, while Anglo American Plc, the world’s second-largest mining company, declined 14 percent. Shell, Europe’s biggest oil producer, dropped 5.3 percent.
news source :http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=atgkXQUsSpvs&refer=home
