By Barbara Kollmeyer
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets opened mostly weaker on Monday, though volumes remained thin with London markets closed until Wednesday. Stocks followed Asia lower in the wake of Saturday's interest-rate hike from China. The Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:STOXX600 279.49, -1.94, -0.69%) was down 0.4% to 280.34, while the French CAC-40 index (FR:PX1 3,857, -43.55, -1.12%) fell 0.6% to 3,873.65 and the German DAX 30 index (DX:DAX 6,974, -83.63, -1.19%) fell 1.3% to 6,968.94. Autos and banks were among the biggest decliners, with Volkswagen AG (DE:VOW3 122.20, -5.95, -4.64%) down 3.6%, Daimler AG (DE:DAI 52.00, -2.11, -3.90%) off 3.5% and BMW AG (DE:BMW 60.02, -3.28, -5.18%) 3% lower. Among financials, Deutsche Bank AG (DE:DB1 52.34, -0.18, -0.34%) (DB 51.92, 0.00, 0.00%) fell 1.5% and Axa SA (FR:AC 33.24, -0.37, -1.09%) fell 1.4%. |
