Europe’s main stock markets dropped yesterday, in the wake of losses in Asia, but Standard Chartered shares rose after the bank agreed a US fine over claims it helped Iranian firms bypass US sanctions.
In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading companies fell by 0.54 per cent to close at 5,833.04 points while Frankfurt’s DAX 30 gave up 0.40 per cent to 6,946.80 points.
In Paris the CAC 40 edged lower, though by an insignificant 0.03 per cent, to 3,449.20 points as the country marked the Catholic church’s Assumption holiday.
Milan was closed for the holiday, while Madrid added a very slight 0.06 per cent.
The market rate on 10-year Spanish bonds eased meanwhile, with yields at 6.642 per cent, compared with 6.732 per cent at the end of trading on Tuesday.
The comparable rate on Italian 10-year debt declined to 5.768 per cent from 5.831 per cent.
The relatively few bond markets traders active this week expect Spain to apply for European financial aid, easing the amount of risk weighing on its debt.
In foreign exchange deals, the European single currency slipped to $1.2288 from $1.2321 late on Tuesday in New York.
On Wall Street, US stocks were mixed after economic data failed to confirm any new spark for the economy.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.08 per cent at 13,161.92 points in midday trades.
The broader S&P 500-stock index was 0.09 per cent higher at 1,405.26 points while the tech-rich Nasdaq gained a more substantial 0.34 per cent to 3,027.36 points.
New US data showed that inflation was flat and that national industrial production grew 0.6 per cent month on month in July, mainly driven by the automotive sector.
Manufacturing in the New York area posted a surprise drop however.
The National Association of Homebuilders’ activity index rose by two points to 37 – still low, but the highest level since early 2007, indicating greater optimism among companies that build housing. In Europe, meanwhile, “the markets are suffering the usual lack of volatility associated with August,” noted Alpari UK analyst Craig Erlam.
“There is also likely to be a lot of cautious trading over the coming weeks with people waiting for the next move from the eurozone,”he added.
A notable exception was shares in Standard Chartered bank, which jumped by 4.25 per cent to 1,428.2 pence.
The bank’s stock price had plunged on August 7, closing down almost 17 per cent to 1,223.57 pence, after New York state regulators accused it of hiding transactions with Iranian banks.
It quickly rebounded in subsequent days, however.
Standard Chartered said late on Tuesday that it had agreed to pay a fine of $340 million to the state regulator following allegations that it hid 60,000 transactions with proscribed Iranian clients worth $250 billion over 10 years.