Oil, banks knock European shares

European stocks slid 3.8 per cent yesterday as oil at $50 whipped energy shares and a fresh 20-per cent slide in Citigroup on Wall Street rattled banks.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed at 781.06 points, its lowest close since April 2003.

European shares have shed more than 48 per cent so far this year, beaten down by financial crisis and recession in the world's major economies.

European banks lost ground after Citigroup shares tumbled more than 20 per cent as investors questioned the US bank's survival prospects.

In Europe, Credit Suisse fell nearly 10 per cent, Dutch financial group ING lost 8.9 per cent, Germany's Deutsche Bank dropped 9.4 per cent and Spain's Banco Santander ended 5.6 per cent lower.

"It's going to be a fairly bumpy road until the year end," said Franz Wenzel, strategist at AXA Investment Managers in Paris.

"Emerging markets are falling apart, nobody knows when the currency bleeding is going to stop. There is hardly any ray of hope on the horizon... Equity-wise, we're in a dire environment." But Royal Bank of Scotland swam against the tide, rising 8.8 per cent as shareholders met to approve a fundraising plan.

Among top gainers, Ahold shares leapt 8.9 per cent after the Dutch supermarket group reported a higher-than-expected 11 per cent rise in core quarterly profit and reiterated its full-year margin target.

Fears that recession will dent demand for oil saw the price of crude fall about five per cent, hitting sector stocks such as OMV , down 7.8 per cent, Royal Dutch Shell, down 5.4 per cent and Petroplus, down 14.8 per cent.

Around Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 lost 3.3 per cent, Germany's CAC dropped 3.1 per cent and France's CAC lost 3.5 per cent.

The Swiss National Bank made a surprise full percentage point cut in interest rates yesterday, a third reduction in quick succession aimed at stopping the economy sliding into recession as the global outlook worsens. Major US stock indexes slid in choppy trade percent, with the benchmark S&P 500 index hitting its lowest in more than six years as data showed the US economy sinking more and investors worried about possible failures by US automakers without a government bailout.

US government data showed that the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits hit their highest level in 16 years in the recent week.

Among European auto stocks, carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen was down four per cent after unveiling plans to cut 2,700 jobs and saying that due to the financial crisis and the sector's turmoil, car sales volume in main European markets would drop by at least 10 per cent in 2009 and 17 per cent in the fourth quarter.