European Stocks Tumble Again; Several Major Markets Fall To Multi-month Lows

(RTTNews) - European stocks tumbled on Monday, and several major markets recorded their largest single-session drop, as investors went on a selling spree amid rising fears the U.S. economy is slipping into a recession. Some weak eurozone economic data hurt as well.

Concerns over an escalating Middle East conflict also weighed on markets, with reports suggesting the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government could sanction a pre-emptive strike on Iran to prevent an attack on Israeli soil.

A sell-off on Wall Street that has resulted in sharp erosion in values of the major averages Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 added to the woes.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 2.17%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 2.04%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended dwon 1.82% and 1.42%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI settled 2.8% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden lost 2 to 4%.

Portugal ended nearly 2% down. Turkiye closed lower by about 5.5%, while Greece plunged more than 6%.

In the UK market, Melrose Industries dropped about 6.3%. Severn Trent, Scottish Mortgage, United Utilities, Coca-Cola, Centrica, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Fresnillo lost 4 to 6%.

Vodafone Group, British Amrican Tobacc, M&G, BT Group, National Grid, Persimmon, BP, Segro, Shell, Endeavor Mining, Relx, Schrodders, Anglo American Plc, Informa, Frasers Group and Marks & Spencer lost 2 to 4%.

Unilever, Tesco, Associated British Foods, HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, AstraZeneca and Next also declined sharply.

In the German market, E.ON., Zalando, Puma, Volkswagen, BMW, Sartorius, SAP, Vonovia, Deutsche Bank, Mercedes-Benz, Hannover Rueck, Covestro, Commerzbank, Allianz, BASF, RWE, Siemens Energy and Munich RE lost 2 to 5%.

Daimler Truck Holding, Adidas, Siemens, Bayer, Brenntag, MTU Aero Engines, Porsche, Fresenius and Deutsche Boerse also ended notably lower.

Infineon and Siemens Healthineers bucked the trend and closed on a firm note.

In the French market, Teleperformance ended more than 5% down. STMicroElectronics lost about 4.7%, while Renault and Veolia both ended lower by about 3.8%.

Michelin, TotalEnergies, Kering, Stellantis, Capgemini, Publicis Groupe, Sanofi, Dassault Systemes, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, Safran and Carrefour lost 1 to 3%.

L'Oreal and Thales posted moderate gains.

In economic news, Eurozone investor sentiment logged an unexpected sharp deterioration in August, signalling a more pronounced economic slump amid uncertainties surrounding upcoming elections in Germany and the USA and the fragile geopolitical situation in the Middle East.

Eurozone's investor sentiment index fell to a seven-month low of -13.9 in August from -7.3 in July.

Final data from S&P Global showed the euro area private sector activity posted its weakest growth in the current five-month sequence of expansion amid falling demand and weaker sentiment.

The final composite output index slid to 50.2 in July from 50.9 in June. The flash reading was 50.1. The score moved close to the 50.0 threshold, suggesting that growth was only fractional.

Meanwhile, the UK service sector's growth accelerated somewhat in July as demand increased at the fastest rate in more than a year, final survey data from S&P Global showed.

The S&P Global Services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 52.5 in July from 52.1 in the previous month. The flash score was 52.4.

The reading remained above the threshold of 50.0 for the ninth straight month, and the growth was accelerated for the first time since April.