Home StocksWorld Europe stocks fall, as Banca Monte dei Paschi stands on the brink

Europe stocks fall, as Banca Monte dei Paschi stands on the brink

by Yomna Yasser

European stock markets dropped on Thursday, as Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA’s eleventh-hour bid to raise capital looked set to fail, dragging bank shares lower.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.2% at 359.73, with only the health care, oil and gas and financial sector notching small gains.

The benchmark on Wednesday fell 0.2%, as banking shares throughout the region came under pressure.

BMPS heads for bailout? In Milan, on the FTSE MIB index shares of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena rose 3.2%, in a turnaround to early action. The shares initially fell 6.8%, after a sluggish start to trading. BMPS, the world’s oldest lender, has been trying to raise 5 billion euros in new private capital as it struggles under a bad loan burden. Those efforts look to have failed, after the bank said it had lost a key investor — thought to be Qatari — leaving BMPS waiting to hear whether the Italian government will bail it out.

But other Italian bank stocks rose. Banca Popolare di Milano gained 1.7%, Banco Popolare tacked on 1.6%, UniCredit SpA gained 1.3%, and Unione di Banche Italiane SpA was higher by 0.9%. Overall, the FTSE Italia All-Share Bank Index was up 0.4% on Thursday.

Across the region, though, bank stocks sagged, pulling down the Stoxx Europe 600 Bank Index 0.1% lower. German lender Deutsche Bank AG and its U.K. peer Barclays PLC each slipped 0.2%

Other movers: Actelion Ltd. shares bounced up 6.1% as the Swiss drug maker re-entered acquisition talks with Johnson & Johnson.

The euro was buying $1.0445 compared with $1.0431 late Wednesday in New York.

Indexes: Italy’s FTSE MIB index rose 0.3% to 19,269.05, and Germany’s DAX 30 index shed 0.1% to 11,454.43.

France’s CAC 40 index was flat at 4,833.62, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index dipped 0.1% at 7,032.74. Spain’s IBEX 35 slipped 0.1%.

Source: MarketWatch

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