Forex Pros – European stock markets were broadly lower on Tuesday, amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East and North Africa and as oil prices continued to rally, while U.S. futures indexes pointed to a lower open on Wall Street.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 1.17%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 1.46%, while Germany’s DAX was down 0.59%.
Violent protests intensified in Libya overnight in the most serious challenge to the 42-year rule of leader Muammar Qaddafi after government warplanes fired at protestors, according to Al-Jazeera.
Crude oil and Brent oil prices continued their rallies to 2-and-a-half year highs amid fears over a disruption to oil supplies from the region.
Shares in the airline sector were broadly lower as a result of the sharp spike in oil prices. Europe’s largest airliner Deutsche Lufthansa saw shares drop 2.39%, shares in Air France-KLM tumbled 4.03%, while shares in discount airliner easyJet slumped 2.52%.
Meanwhile, shares in Italy’s largest lender Unicredit plunged 5.75%. Libya is Unicredit’s top shareholder with a 7.5% stake and Libyan central bank governor Farhat Omar Bengdara is also Unicredit’s vice-president.
Elsewhere in the financial sector, Spain’s largest lender Banco Santander saw shares drop 1.08%, Europe’s largest banking group BNP Paribas lost 1.75%, while Societe Generale saw shares sink 2.36%.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 declined 1.21% as raw material companies led losses.
Shares in copper producer Xstrata dropped 1.32%, rival Antofagasta fell 1.29%, while Anglo American saw shares slide 1.41%.
Meanwhile, shares in oil major Royal Dutch Shell sank 0.96% after it said that it closed its office in Tripoli and evacuated staff as violence in Libya intensified. Shares in rival British Petroleum was down 1.04%.Â
The outlook for U.S. equity markets, meanwhile, was broaldy lower ahead of earnings reports from Home Depot and tech giant Hewlett-Packard.Â
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a decline of 0.41%, S&P 500 futures indicated a drop of 0.56%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.53%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on consumer confidence compiled by the Conference Board as well as industry data on house prices and a report on manufacturing activity in Richmond.
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