Investing.com - European stocks remained sharply lower on Tuesday, as market sentiment weakened broadly after the outcome of the Italian parliamentary election sparked fresh concerns over political instability in the country.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 plunged 2.63%, France’s CAC 40 plummeted 2.26%, while Germany’s DAX 30 retreated 1.79%.
Italy’s center-left party led by the Democratic Party's Pier Luigi Bersani won the majority of votes in the lower house, the chamber of deputies, and was likely to receive the mandate to form a government.
However, projections indicated that no party would be able to form a majority in the upper house or Senate, which could send Italy back to the polls.
In addition, the yield on Italian 10-year bonds jumped to 4.82% on Tuesday from 4.37% on Monday, while the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds rose to 5.4% from 5.1% on Monday.
Financial stocks remained broadly lower, as French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas plummeted 4.83% and 5.26%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank plunged 4.48% and 2.77%.
Peripheral lenders added to losses, with Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander tumbling 3.30% and 3.39%, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo dove 8.27% and 10.23% respectively.
Elsewhere, SEB tumbled 2.75% after saying full-year net income was EUR194.2 million last year, missing the average analyst estimate for EUR206.6 million.
Germany-based BASF also trended lower, dropping 2.71%, after saying earnings increased 18% to EUR1.8 billion in the fourth quarter, missing analysts' estimate of EUR1.83 billion.
In London, FTSE 100 tumbled 1.29%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower.
Shares in HSBC Holdings plummeted 2.33% and Lloyds Banking declined 2.73%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays retreated 3.40% and 4.03% respectively.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were mixed, as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton shed 0.56% and 2.11%, while Rangold Resource and Fresnillo advanced 0.73% and 0.20%.
Copper producers turned lower on the other hand, with Xstrata dropping 0.57% and Kazakhmys tumbling 2.19%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.20% increase, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.19% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.14% gain.
Market participants were looking ahead to congressional testimony from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke later in the trading day, after last week’s minutes of the central bank’s January meeting showed that some policymakers favored an early end to the Fed's monetary easing measures.
The U.S. was to release a report on consumer confidence and official data on new home sales.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 plunged 2.63%, France’s CAC 40 plummeted 2.26%, while Germany’s DAX 30 retreated 1.79%.
Italy’s center-left party led by the Democratic Party's Pier Luigi Bersani won the majority of votes in the lower house, the chamber of deputies, and was likely to receive the mandate to form a government.
However, projections indicated that no party would be able to form a majority in the upper house or Senate, which could send Italy back to the polls.
In addition, the yield on Italian 10-year bonds jumped to 4.82% on Tuesday from 4.37% on Monday, while the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds rose to 5.4% from 5.1% on Monday.
Financial stocks remained broadly lower, as French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas plummeted 4.83% and 5.26%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank plunged 4.48% and 2.77%.
Peripheral lenders added to losses, with Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander tumbling 3.30% and 3.39%, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo dove 8.27% and 10.23% respectively.
Elsewhere, SEB tumbled 2.75% after saying full-year net income was EUR194.2 million last year, missing the average analyst estimate for EUR206.6 million.
Germany-based BASF also trended lower, dropping 2.71%, after saying earnings increased 18% to EUR1.8 billion in the fourth quarter, missing analysts' estimate of EUR1.83 billion.
In London, FTSE 100 tumbled 1.29%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts sharply lower.
Shares in HSBC Holdings plummeted 2.33% and Lloyds Banking declined 2.73%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays retreated 3.40% and 4.03% respectively.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were mixed, as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton shed 0.56% and 2.11%, while Rangold Resource and Fresnillo advanced 0.73% and 0.20%.
Copper producers turned lower on the other hand, with Xstrata dropping 0.57% and Kazakhmys tumbling 2.19%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.20% increase, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.19% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.14% gain.
Market participants were looking ahead to congressional testimony from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke later in the trading day, after last week’s minutes of the central bank’s January meeting showed that some policymakers favored an early end to the Fed's monetary easing measures.
The U.S. was to release a report on consumer confidence and official data on new home sales.