Go Bernanke go!
Sabri
++++++++++++
European Stocks Decline; Societe Generale, Barclays Lead Drop
By Sarah Jones
Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks fell, following declines in U.S. and
Asian markets, on renewed concern the subprime-mortgage rout is spreading and
will erode global economic growth.
Societe Generale, France's second-largest bank, led the retreat. Barclays Plc
dropped after the Financial Times reported the U.K. bank has ``several hundred
million dollars'' in failed debt investments. Deutsche Post AG declined after
Goldman, Sachs & Co. recommended selling the stock.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 0.4 percent to 369.74 at 8:04 a.m. in
London. The Stoxx 50 also slipped 0.4 percent, while the Euro Stoxx 50, a
measure for the euro region, sank 0.3 percent.
``There are pockets in the banks where there are still huge amount of
uncertainties,'' said Andy Brough, who helps oversee $7.6 billion at Schroder
Investment Management Ltd. in London. The impact the credit-market debacle may
have on banks is ``a big factor that is going to weigh on markets.''
U.S. stocks fell yesterday after a report showed the glut of unsold homes rose
to a 16-year high last month and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. warned of
``extraordinary weakness'' in the market for loans held by Countrywide
Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. home lender. Asian equities retreated today.
Societe Generale lost 1.4 percent to 118.26 euros.
Barclays, the third-biggest U.K. bank, fell 1.6 percent to 601 pence. The
company provided back-up financing to one of four structured investment
vehicles set up by Barclays Capital, the Financial Times reported, citing
people familiar with the matter. It leaves the bank with an exposure in the
``low hundreds of millions of dollars,'' the newspaper said.
No one at Barclays was immediately available to comment on the report.
Deutsche Post, Europe's biggest mail carrier, dropped 3.2 percent to 20.80
euros after Goldman Sachs lowered its recommendation for the shares to ``sell''
from ``buy.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at
[EMAIL PROTECTED] ;
Last Updated: August 28, 2007 03:14 EDT
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