European stock markets suffered broad-based losses on Tuesday, with an unexpected plunge in German manufacturing orders and global growth concerns weighing on sentiment in the region.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, -1.59% slumped 1.7% to 328.66, with all sectors posting losses.
German stocks led the declines in Europe, with the DAX 30 index DAX, -2.30% down 2.5% at 9,577.99 and on track for its lowest close since March 10. The weakness came after data showed total orders for the country’s important manufacturing sector fell 1.2% in February, missing estimates of a small gain.
“Equity markets are coming under pressure again, and the DAX is showing a series of concerning corrective signs that suggest that the February/March rally has lost upside impetus and a downside move is developing,” said Richard Perry, analyst at Hantec Markets, in a note.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index UKX, -1.27% lost 1.4% to 6,080.53, while France’s CAC 40 index PX1, -1.87% dropped 2% to 4,257.86.
IMF warning: In a speech at Frankfurt’s Goethe University, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde called on the world’s economies to boost growth, warning that risks to global growth are rising.
The comments come after the IMF in a report out on Monday said emerging markets, led by China, are increasingly posing a risk to stock markets in developed countries.
Oil blues: Analysts also pointed to a continued slide in oil prices as weighing on equity markets on Tuesday. Crude oil CLK6, -0.45% dropped 0.8% to $35.43 a barrel, while Brent LCOM6, -0.37% fell 0.5% to $37.50.
The losses in oil prices deepened on mounting skepticism that major oil producers will reach an agreement to freeze production at a highly anticipated meeting in Doha on April 17.
Read: Russian oil output hits post-Soviet high, swamps hopes for production freeze
Shares of AMEC Foster Wheeler PLC AMFW, -3.90% slid 3.6%, Tullow Oil PLC TLW, -1.46% lost 2.6%, and Total SA FP, -1.43% TOT, +0.52% fell 2%.
Other commodity companies were also declining, with steelmaker ArcelorMittal MT, -6.38% down 6.6% and Glencore PLC GLEN, -5.37% GLCNF, -1.85% 0805, -10.13% off 5.3%.
Data: The final reading of the eurozone services purchasing managers’ index for March was adjusted to 53.1, from the flash estimate of 54. The composite PMI came in at 53.1, down from the flash estimate of 53.7.
The U.K. services PMI for March rose to 53.7, from February’s 35-month low of 52.7.
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