Sept. 5, 2011, 12:13 p.m. EDT
Europe stocks slammed; Germany drops over 5%
German chancellor’s CDU party crushed in state elections
By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — European stocks finished sharply lower Monday, with the German market dropping more than 5%, as investors piled into safe-haven assets amid rising fears over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis and U.S. growth.
Sellers picked up the pace in the afternoon, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index slumping 4.1% to close at 223.45.
The index tumbled 2.4% on Friday after data showed no growth in U.S. payrolls in August, a result well short of expectations.
U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
The German DAX 30 index sank 5.3% to close at 5,246.18, led lower by Deutsche Bank AG, which tumbled 8.9%.
The biggest decliner for the Stoxx 600 was Clariant AG. Shares sank 16.3% after the Swiss specialty-chemical group cut its full-year sales and profit outlook owing to a strong Swiss franc and the global economic slowdown.
Other chemical stocks followed Clariant lower, such as BASF, which fell 5.6%, and Bayer, which declined 4.6% in Frankfurt.
Meanwhile, dramatic losses were seen for European bank shares.
Full story: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rbs-deutsche-bank-lead-sharp-decline-for-europe-2011-09-05
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