European markets suffered their biggest losses in two months yesterday as anti-austerity riots in Spain and Greece underscored the difficulties facing struggling peripheral economies.
Michael Hewson, senior analyst at CMC Markets, said: “Images of tear gas and rioting protestors on TV screens don’t generally engender confidence in investors that EU leaders have control of the situation in Europe.”
Germany’s Dax index was 2 per cent lower and France’s Cac 40 fell 3 per cent. In Madrid, the Ibex shares index plunged by 4 per cent as the Bank of Spain predicted that the country’s recession would continue in the current quarter and unemployment would continue to rise.
London’s FTSE 100 was down by 1.6 per cent at the close.