Investing.com – European stocks erased early gains to end lower on Monday, led down by declines in the pharmaceutical and financial sectors.
At the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 was down 0.56%; France’s CAC 40 declined 0.31% and Germany's DAX fell 0.30%.
Earlier in the day, Moody's Investor Service's said that it had downgraded the unguaranteed senior debt of Anglo Irish bank by three notches and was keeping the bank under review for a further possible downgrade.
Following the news, financial sector stocks posted losses, with Lloyd’s Banking Group tumbling 1.12%, Royal Bank of Scotland falling 1.14% and Barclays shedding 0.37%.
In the pharmaceutical sector, shares in U.K. drug giant AstraZeneca tumbled 1.62% after the firm reported that a drug being tested for the treatment of prostate cancer failed to improve survival among patients.
Elsewhere, Swiss drug company Actelion plunged 7.12% after the biopharmaceutical firm said that an experimental drug had failed to achieve the primary goal in a key study. According to reports, the company was now likely to cancel a related trial of the same drug.
Meanwhile, shares in Siemens, Europe’s biggest technology company, declined 1.85%, after it said that new orders at its energy unit would be “considerably” above the amount from the previous year, while profits at the health-care unit would be “slightly less” than the EUR 483 million reported a year ago.
On the corporate front, shares in Pernod Ricard SA rose 1.85%, after the French-based producer and distributor of spirits and wines said it experienced a 7% increase in summer sales, compared to 2008.
In London, the FTSE 100 shed 0.45%, as commodity sector stocks led declines. Shares in miners Xstrata fell 1.15%, British Petroleum stocks shed 0.42%, while stocks in gold miners Randgold Resources tumbled 1.77%.
Across the Atlantic, U.S. markets moved lower: the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.21%; the S&P 500 index fell 0.28% and the Nasdaq Composite index shed 0.34%.
Earlier in the day, economist Nouriel Roubini, famous for forecasting the credit crisis, warned that the U.S. economy could descend into a second recession. He also said that second-quarter GDP figures for the U.S. are likely to be revised down after “awful” June housing data.
At the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 was down 0.56%; France’s CAC 40 declined 0.31% and Germany's DAX fell 0.30%.
Earlier in the day, Moody's Investor Service's said that it had downgraded the unguaranteed senior debt of Anglo Irish bank by three notches and was keeping the bank under review for a further possible downgrade.
Following the news, financial sector stocks posted losses, with Lloyd’s Banking Group tumbling 1.12%, Royal Bank of Scotland falling 1.14% and Barclays shedding 0.37%.
In the pharmaceutical sector, shares in U.K. drug giant AstraZeneca tumbled 1.62% after the firm reported that a drug being tested for the treatment of prostate cancer failed to improve survival among patients.
Elsewhere, Swiss drug company Actelion plunged 7.12% after the biopharmaceutical firm said that an experimental drug had failed to achieve the primary goal in a key study. According to reports, the company was now likely to cancel a related trial of the same drug.
Meanwhile, shares in Siemens, Europe’s biggest technology company, declined 1.85%, after it said that new orders at its energy unit would be “considerably” above the amount from the previous year, while profits at the health-care unit would be “slightly less” than the EUR 483 million reported a year ago.
On the corporate front, shares in Pernod Ricard SA rose 1.85%, after the French-based producer and distributor of spirits and wines said it experienced a 7% increase in summer sales, compared to 2008.
In London, the FTSE 100 shed 0.45%, as commodity sector stocks led declines. Shares in miners Xstrata fell 1.15%, British Petroleum stocks shed 0.42%, while stocks in gold miners Randgold Resources tumbled 1.77%.
Across the Atlantic, U.S. markets moved lower: the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.21%; the S&P 500 index fell 0.28% and the Nasdaq Composite index shed 0.34%.
Earlier in the day, economist Nouriel Roubini, famous for forecasting the credit crisis, warned that the U.S. economy could descend into a second recession. He also said that second-quarter GDP figures for the U.S. are likely to be revised down after “awful” June housing data.