Investing.com - European stocks opened sharply lower on Thursday, as turmoil persisted in Chinese markets and global geopolitical concerns continued to weigh on market sentiment.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 lost 2.52%, France’s CAC 40 tumbled 2.40%, while Germany’s DAX 30 plummeted 2.93%.
Equity markets weakened as Chinese stocks were suspended from all trade on Thursday after the CSI 300 index plunged more than 7% in early trade, triggering the market's circuit breaker for a second time this week.
Markets were also jittery since North Korea confirmed on Wednesday that it had conducted a successful hydrogen nuclear bomb test.
Growing tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, following the execution of a prominent Saudi Shia cleric, also dented risk sentiment.
Earlier Thursday, data showed that German factory orders rose 1.5% in November, beating expectations for a 0.1% uptick.
A separate report showed that German retail sales rose 0.2% in November, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.5%.
Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) plummeted 2.28% and 2.47%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) lost 2.20% and 3.77%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) tumbled 2.03% and 2.37% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MC:SAN) and BBVA (MC:BBVA) retreated 2.78% and 1.61%.
Elsewhere, Publicis Groupe SA (PA:PUBP) plummeted 2.24% after Exane BNP Paribas cut its rating on the advertiser to underperform from neutral, saying it is unlikely that organic growth will recover in the second half of the year.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 plummeted 2.05%, still weighed by sharp losses in the mining sector.
Shares in Rio Tinto (L:RIO) lost 1.56% and Glencore (L:GLEN) plunged 5.36%, while Antofagasta (L:ANTO) and Bhp Billiton (L:BLT) dove 5.79% and 6.68% respectively. Anglo American (L:AAL) led losses on the index, with shares down 9.43%.
Financial stocks were also on the downside, as HSBC Holdings (L:HSBA) dropped 0.59% and Lloyds Banking (L:LLOY) tumbled 1.42%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (L:RBS) lost 1.84% and Barclays (L:BARC) plummeted 2.24%.
Merlin Entertainments PLC (L:MERL) saw shares decline 1.89% after annoucing that Andrew Carr will retire in 2016 after 16 years as the company’s chief financial officer.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a sharply lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 1.72% decline, S&P 500 futures signaled a 1.75% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 1.93% drop.