European, Asian stock markets fall on poor earnings, banking woes

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
European and Asian stock markets dropped Monday, with financial and energy stocks leading the way down as investors prepared for another week of poor earnings reports and gloomy economic data. US stocks were mixed. After Asian markets closed mostly lower, there was little appetite to buy in Europe as faith in a rapid turnaround in the global economy and corporate earnings faded. Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 ended down 1.5 percent at 4,077.78, while the German DAX dropped 1.5 percent at 4,271.04. France's CAC 40 shed 1.5 percent at 2,930.05. Wall Street was mixed, with the Dow Jones average recovering some ground after opening lower as figures showed personal spending dropped for the sixth straight month in December. The Dow industrials were down 0.2 percent at 7,981.03, while the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.3 percent at 828.19. Bank shares were hit particularly hard Monday, with Barclays PLC down 10.6 percent in London after ratings agency Moody's downgraded its long-term credit rating.