Markets mostly ended lower yesterday as worries about the financial health of Argentina triggered an early decline on Wall Street. The Eurobloc 100 index fell 17.01 or 1.5 per cent to 1,120.41, the Eurotop 100 index dropped 48.44 or 1.5 per cent to 3,079.23, while the Eurotop 300 index closed 22.82 or 1.7 per cent lower at 1,338.20.
Frankfurt fell steeply but managed to close above the day's lows. The Xetra Dax index, which sank to 5,553.42 at one stage, ended 78.20 lower at 5,573.82.
Banks continued to suffer profit-taking. HypoVereinsbank lost €3.02 at €65.43 and Dresdner came off €1.76 at €42.93. Deutsche Bank shed €2.28 at €63.82.
BMW, up 9 per cent over the past five days, tumbled on concerns for sales following a 7.3 per cent decline in new car registrations for June. The shares fell €34.90 to €714.10. Weak German retail sales for May provoked a mixed response from the stores sector. Metro shed 51 cents to €57, but Karstadt gained €1.49 at €436.99.
Paris fell victim to profit-taking as Argentinian concerns provided an excuse for a sell-off. The CAC-40 index ended 67.63 or 1.5 per cent lower at 4,594.65 in low volume.
Air Liquide, the industrial gases group, fell €6.50 or 4.2 per cent to €148.50 after the official announcement of its joint acquisition with Air Products and Chemicals of BOC of the UK.
Amsterdam ended 6.18 lower at 582.17 on the AEX index with heavy falls for financials and oil giant Royal Dutch weighing heavily on sentiment. Philips pushed ahead strongly after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter upgraded it to "strong buy". The broker raised earnings estimates for next year 7 per cent and set a €130 target price. After hitting a session high of €102.20, the shares ended €3.50 better at €100.
Milan followed its telecoms sector lower after Tecnost gave further details of a euro bond issue, saying it aimed to raise €10 billion. The Mibtel index finished 395 lower at 25,019. Tecnost gave up 3 per cent to €2.71 while Olivetti lost 1.3 per cent to €2.42 and Telecom Italia fell 2.1 per cent to €10.77.
Madrid under-performed most other European markets, reflecting the relatively high exposure of Spanish companies to Latin America. The general index fell 15.31 or 1.7 per cent to 901.27. Repsol, the oil group, shed 50 cents or 2.4 per cent to end at €20.20. The group last month completed a $13.4 billion takeover of YPF of Argentina. Banks with a big presence in Argentina also suffered. BSCH, Spain's biggest bank, dropped 23 cents or 2.3 per cent to €9.98, while BBV ended 27 cents or 1.9 per cent lower at €13.61.
