Europe Stocks Hit By Downbeat Fed Comments

European stock markets moved sharply lower in early trade on Wednesday, tracking losses on Wall Street and in Asia following comments from nonvoting U.S. Federal Reserve member, Charles Plosser, who said that quantitative easing may not be effective.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.9% to 273.41, mainly weighed by banks. Spain’s Banco Santander SA lost 1.6%, while Deutsche Bank AG gave up 2.9%. The German DAX 30 index fell 1.2% to 7,340.11. In France, Credit Agricole SA gave up 2.8% and Societe Generale SA dropped 2.1%. The CAC 40 index slid 1.3% to 3,466.93.

In the U.K., resource firms were also on the decline, as most commodity prices moved lower. Anglo American PLC lost 2.4%, while BP PLC gave up 0.9%. The FTSE 100 index fell 0.8% to 5,812.06.

MarketWatch