European shares and the euro slide as Brent climbs back above $100

European stocks and the euro dropped on Wednesday, 7 October, as oil climbed back above $100 a barrel amid renewed tension in the Middle East, Reuters reported. Concern that France’s fiscal problems could spill over into wider debt markets also weighed on sentiment.

Stocks

By midday in Europe, MSCI’s main world index was down 0.39% and the pan-European STOXX 600 had lost 1.02% to 630.12 points, after three straight sessions of gains; last week it touched 624.85, its lowest since 12 June. Tech and mining shares led the declines. British water utility Pennon fell 15.4% after launching a £550 million rights issue and cutting its dividend. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped about 0.5%, while mainland Chinese markets were closed for a holiday. On Tuesday the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had both closed at record highs.

Oil and the euro

Brent rose 1.2% to $101.83 a barrel as traders weighed a storm heading for US oil-producing regions and attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi Arabia against larger Middle East shipments: Vitol chief executive Russell Hardy said about 12 million barrels per day of crude had left the region on tankers over the past seven to ten days. US and European bond yields edged higher, French spreads widened ahead of next year’s presidential election, and the euro fell 0.62% to $1.1188, close to the 17-month low of $1.1161 it hit earlier this week.