European stocks fell on Tuesday as attention continued to focus on Russia’s isolation from global financial markets following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Stoxx Europe 600SXXP,
which ended down just 0.1% on Monday despite heavier losses early in the day, slipped 2.4%.
Renault RNO car manufacturer,
the German lender Commerzbank CBK,
and the Irish carrier Ryanair RYA,
were among the companies experiencing steep declines.
The German DAX DAX,
and the French CAC 40 PX1,
each fell nearly 4%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 UKX,
lost 1.7% as the index’s bias towards commodity producers helped limit the damage.
As stocks struggled, bonds soared. The yield of the 10-year German Bund TMBMKDE-10Y,
turned negative for the first time in a month. The UK 10-year gilt yield TMBMKGB-10Y,
fell 26 basis points.
Heavy fighting continued in Ukraine, with the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, having been bombarded. Russia also said it was about to launch missile strikes on the capital Kyiv. Russia’s Central Bank kept the local stock market closed for a second day after the United States banned transactions with it. The central bank on Monday raised interest rates to 20% from 9.5%.
Rheinmetall RHM,
rose for the second day, gaining 18%, after Germany announced it would spend 100 billion euros to strengthen its armed forces. Thales HO,
and BAE Systems BA,
also saw a second day of gains.
Oil companies including Aker BP AKRBP,
and Equinor EQNR,
surged as CL.1 oil prices,
dope.