European stock markets fell this evening, giving up most of Wednesday's gains, as better than expected results from Credit Suisse failed to spark a rally in the bank sector.
Dublin's ISEQ again fared worse than its counterparts, dropping 203 points (4%) to 4,957. Building stocks were hard hit, with Kingspan dropping 77 cent to €6.73. Smurfit Kappa slid 64 cent to €3.41, while Irish Life & Permanent lost 55 to €5.35. Elan shares slumped €1.95 cent to €20.12 despite its unveiling a narrowing of second quarter losses this morning.
In London, the FTSE fell 88 points (1.6%) to 5,362, led by oil and mining stocks, while British Airways slumped 8% to 245p after EasyJet lowered its profit outlook for this year. In Paris the CAC lost 1.4% to close at 4,348 while in Frankfurt the Dax gave up 1.5% to end at 6,441.
On Wall Street, some disappointing results - particularly from Ford - and weak housing figures hit sentiment. The Dow Jones was down 136 points at 11,496 while the Nasdaq was off 22 at 2,304. Earlier, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index closed 2% higher at 13,603 - a gain of 290 points.
