Market Analysis

European shares plummeted to a near six-month low at the start of the week, driven by a global equities sell-off fueled by concerns over a potential slowdown in U.S. economic growth.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 3.1% to 482.42 points by 0711 GMT, marking its lowest level since February 13. The benchmark is on track for its worst day in 2.5 years.

On Friday, the index experienced its worst weekly performance in nearly 10 months and dropped below the 500 mark for the first time since April 15.

Investor fears of a U.S. recession have prompted a flight from risk assets.

All major European exchanges opened lower.

The financial sector bore the brunt of the decline, with banks losing 4.2%, financial services falling 3.6%, and the tech sector dropping 5%.

In individual stock movements, Galderma saw a 2.2% increase after L'Oreal announced it would acquire a 10% stake in the Swiss skincare firm from a group of major shareholders.

OCI Global surged 7.3% following Woodside Energy’s announcement that it would purchase the Dutch chemicals maker’s clean ammonia project in Texas for $2.35 billion.

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.