LONDON, July 9 ― Banks led European shares slightly lower yesterday as Deutsche Bank slid despite a major restructuring move, while fading hopes of a sharp interest-rate cut by the US Federal Reserve weighed on broader markets.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended marginally lower with all major indices in the red. Madrid's bank-heavy index underperformed but London's FTSE 100 outperformed, boosted by miners and oil majors.
A surge in basic resources stocks, however, helped limit losses for the benchmark after Dalian iron ore recouped some of its losses from late last week, buoyed by expectations of strong demand.
Volumes on the pan-European STOXX 600 index were well below long-term daily averages.
Shares in Deutsche Bank, which had jumped nearly 4 per cent in morning trade, after the German lender announced one of the biggest investment bank overhauls since the aftermath of the financial crisis, reversed course to close 5 per cent lower as investors questioned the bank's restructuring targets.
The bank laid off staff from Sydney to London yesterday as it began 18,000 job cuts in a €7.4 billion (RM34.3 billion) “reinvention” which it said would mean yet another annual loss.
“When banks come out with a cost number there’s often some quarterly attrition on that number through the execution phase. Therefore the risk is a slippage on the targeted… net costs saves,” Russell Quelch, financials analyst at Redburn, said.
“There are already doubts around the starting point for revenues given the weakness in the first two quarters of 2019.”
The pan-European banking sector which fell 1 per cent was further weighed down by shares of Swiss lender Julius Baer after the company appointed Philipp Rickenbacher, as its new chief executive officer.
Healthcare stocks also took a beating with Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding sliding after it agreed to extend the deadline for its US$4.3 billion takeover bid for US gene therapy specialist Spark Therapeutics.
Much of the global stocks rally since June has been spurred by expectations of an accommodative monetary policy by major central banks to tackle slowing growth as the damaging trade war between United States and China takes its toll.
But robust US jobs data on Friday has lowered hopes of a sharp rate cut by the US Federal Reserve even though a reduction is still expected.
In Greece, despite the expected victory of the country's opposition conservatives in Sunday's snap election, Athens stocks ended almost 2 per cent lower on some profit taking. ― Reuters
