Europe Stocks Under Pressure; BHP Hit By Results

European stock markets opened lower on Tuesday, on the heels of losses for Asian markets, with some emerging markets getting hurt particularly hard.

Investors are fretting ahead of the release of minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.9% to 301.88, led by a 3% drop for BHP Billiton PLC , which reported a 30% profit drop.

Financials were also being hit particularly hard, with a 2% drop for Allianz SE helping to knock 1.1% off the German DAX 30 index , which traded at 8,270.07. The French CAC 40 index fell 0.9% to 4,047.30 and the FTSE 100 index fell 0.8% to 6,413.70. Shares of Salzgitter AG dropped 4% and ArcelorMittal SA fell nearly that much on separate broker downgrades.

Source : Ahram