Investing.com - European stock markets were mixed on Monday, as investors were jittery after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded nine euro zone countries on Friday, including France.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 edged up 0.06%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.06%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.28%.
The ratings company downgraded France to AA+ from AAA with a negative outlook. S&P also cut ratings on Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal by two notches and downgraded Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia by one level. Germany kept its triple-A rating.
French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said Friday that the loss of the triple-A rating was "not a catastrophe'' and stressed that France still had a solid AA+ rating.
European Central Bank policymaker Ewald Nowotny said on Sunday the central bank would do all it could to calm the situation after the downgrade.
Financial stocks led losses as shares in Germany’s Deutsche Bank slipped 0.10%, while French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale declined 0.54% and 1.18% respectively.
Peripheral lenders also added to losses with Italy’s Unicredit tumbling 1.99% while, Spanish BBVA and Banco Santander retreating 0.45% and 1.74%.
Meanwhile, Carnival Plc plunged 18.18% after its Costa Concordia cruise liner ran aground off Italy’s Tuscan coast, killing at least five people.
In London, FTSE 100 advanced 0.20%, after data showed that house price inflation declined 0.8% in January, after a 2.7% fall the previous month.
U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower as shares in Lloyds Banking plummets 2.78% and the Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 2.41%, while Barclays and HSBC Holdings plunged 2.42% and 0.53%.
Meanwhile, mining giants Bhp Billiton and Rio Tinto were also lower with shares dropping 0.60% and 0.60%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys declined 0.66% and 1.05% respectively.
Also Monday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi was to testify before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, while markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for a national holiday.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 edged up 0.06%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.06%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.28%.
The ratings company downgraded France to AA+ from AAA with a negative outlook. S&P also cut ratings on Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal by two notches and downgraded Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia by one level. Germany kept its triple-A rating.
French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said Friday that the loss of the triple-A rating was "not a catastrophe'' and stressed that France still had a solid AA+ rating.
European Central Bank policymaker Ewald Nowotny said on Sunday the central bank would do all it could to calm the situation after the downgrade.
Financial stocks led losses as shares in Germany’s Deutsche Bank slipped 0.10%, while French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale declined 0.54% and 1.18% respectively.
Peripheral lenders also added to losses with Italy’s Unicredit tumbling 1.99% while, Spanish BBVA and Banco Santander retreating 0.45% and 1.74%.
Meanwhile, Carnival Plc plunged 18.18% after its Costa Concordia cruise liner ran aground off Italy’s Tuscan coast, killing at least five people.
In London, FTSE 100 advanced 0.20%, after data showed that house price inflation declined 0.8% in January, after a 2.7% fall the previous month.
U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower as shares in Lloyds Banking plummets 2.78% and the Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 2.41%, while Barclays and HSBC Holdings plunged 2.42% and 0.53%.
Meanwhile, mining giants Bhp Billiton and Rio Tinto were also lower with shares dropping 0.60% and 0.60%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys declined 0.66% and 1.05% respectively.
Also Monday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi was to testify before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, while markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for a national holiday.