Reply #110: Consumer woes lead Europe lower

[Ghost Dog]

European equity markets fell back on Thursday, with France's CAC 40 leading the declines after French consumer confidence hit a record low.

Paris' benchmark index fell 2.1 per cent to 4,865.23 after consumer confidence sank to its lowest level since the measure was introduced in 1987 as purchasing power was squeezed by inflation, which hit a 12-year high in January.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 1.8 per cent to 1,333.99, Frankfurt's Xetra Dax shed 1.9 per cent to 6,862.52 and London's FTSE 100 lost 1.8 per cent to 5,965.7.

Banks took a dive on renewed writedown fears, with UBS (NYSE:UBS) slipping 4.9 per cent to SFr35.66 after Morgan Stanley warned that deteriorating credit markets could force it to take further losses.

Confidence in the wider banking sector took another hit in later afternoon trading when Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, said he expected some small US banks to fail because of market turmoil.

BNP Paribas fell 4 per cent to EU61.36 and Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) dropped 2.6 per cent to SFr53.50

/... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ft/20080228/bs_ft/fto022820081218500539