European stocks fell on Monday, weighed down by a pullback in the shares of major banking and energy companies, with Deutsche Bank hitting a record low.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 1.3 per cent. The index remains down by around 7 per cent since the start of 2016.
The STOXX Europe 600 Banking index fell 2.3 per cent, as
German magazine
Deutsche Bank said on Monday Chief Executive John Cryan had not asked Merkel at any time to intervene in the US mortgages investigation.
British bank Lloyds also declined 3.1 per cent after Goldman Sachs cut its rating on Lloyds to “sell” from “neutral’’.
The broader European banking index is down by around 20 per cent since the start of 2016 - the worst-performing equity sector in Europe this year - as the industry has been impacted by concerns that negative interest rates will hit the profitability of banks.
“Banks are still in bad shape,” said Rupert Baker, a European equity sales executive at Mirabaud Securities.
Baker expected European stock markets to make little progress until the outcome of November’s U.S. Presidential election.
Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican rival Donald Trump are due to square off in their first televised debate later on Monday.
“We’re not really going to go anywhere on European markets until the November election,” Baker said.
The STOXX Europe 600 Oil & Gas index also fell 1.5 per cent, reflecting a sharp drop in oil prices in recent sessions.
Among other individual stock movers, Lanxess surged 8.1 per cent after it said it would buy speciality chemical company Chemtura for about €2.4 billion ($2.69 billion) including debt.
“CEO Matthias Zachert has a very good track record with acquisitions so far and Chemtura seems to be another good one,’’ DZ Bank analyst Peter Spengler said.
Shares in fertiliser company K+S fell 5.7 per cent after Deutsche Bank cut its rating on the stock to “sell” from “hold’’.