European stocks on track for their worst month since August 2015; Valeo tanks 20%

In This Article:

  • The pan-European Stoxx 600 had fallen 1.4 percent by the late morning, as the benchmark index remained on track for its worst month of trading since August 2015.

  • France's Valeo sank to the bottom of the benchmark, after the car parts company slashed its sales and earnings targets citing industry disruption. Shares of the Paris-listed stock tanked 20 percent on the news.

  • Financial markets have been hit hard by a range of worries this week, including the U.S.-China trade war, a rout in emerging market currencies, rising borrowing costs, earnings, and economic concerns in Italy.

European stocks tumbled Friday morning, tracking a decline in U.S. stocks futures after tech titans Amazon and Google parent Alphabet Inc missed earnings expectations.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was lower 1.4 percent by late-morning deals, putting the benchmark index on track for its worst month of trading since August 2015.

At one stage, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX were both trading more than 2 percent lower Friday morning.

Third-quarter earnings season has been overshadowed by sell-offs across global markets and sharp downgrades to corporate estimates.

Nonetheless, weaker-than-expected results from Amazon and Alphabet Inc overnight exacerbated investors' worries about the dominance of tech stocks in this market cycle.

In Europe, several sectors were trading more around 2 percent lower with oil and gas stocks leading the declines.

Looking at individual stocks, France's Valeo FR-FR sank to the bottom of the benchmark, after the car parts company slashed its sales and earnings targets citing industry disruption. Shares of the Paris-listed stock tanked 20 percent on the news.

Sweden's Electrolux ELUX.B-SE also tumbled towards the bottom of the benchmark after the company cut its full-year demand outlook on Friday. Shares of the firm had dropped more than 7 percent at the last print.

Meanwhile, oil refiner Neste NESTE-FI surged higher Friday morning, after the company beat expectations with third-quarter results. The company said it expected 2018 to be a very strong year for the firm. Its shares had bounced over 8 percent shortly before midday.

Market turmoil

Market focus is largely attuned to another batch of earnings results on Friday, after a turbulent week of trading worldwide.

Financial markets have been hit hard by a range of worries, including the U.S.-China trade war, a rout in emerging market currencies, rising borrowing costs and bond yields and economic concerns in Italy.

In Asia, stocks tumbled to 20-month lows on Friday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, dropped 1 percent. The losses came despite a bounce on Wall Street overnight , though Amazon and Alphabet Inc both fell sharply after the closing bell following disappointing quarterly results.