European Markets Fall Amid Global Economic Concerns

Most European markets fell Monday as investors continued to have concerns about the faltering global economy and mounting debt crisis in the euro zone.

The German DAX 30 index fell 0.17 percent or 10.92 points to 6546.18. Shares of Volkswagen AG dropped 0.80 percent and shares of Daimler AG declined 0.76 percent.

The French CAC 40 index dropped 0.45 percent or 14.30 points to 3166.51. Shares of Peugeot SA fell 1.22 percent and shares of Cap Gemini SA declined 0.84 percent.

London’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.30 percent or 17.28 points to 5648.85. Shares of Rio Tinto PLC dropped 2.09 percent and shares of Kazakhmys PLC were down 0.94 percent.

Spain's IBEX 35 dropped 0.42 percent or 27.70 points to 6636.90. Shares of Bankia SA fell 5.07 percent and shares of Bankia SA dropped 0.89 percent.

Investors continue to worry about the uncertainties in the euro zone economy. The inability to seal the deal on the main elements of the recent EU Summit has become a major worrying aspect for market players.

In addition, the hardline stance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel towards banking supervision and the disagreement within France’s majority government on how to ratify the Fiscal Pact have increased concerns among market participants.

Investors feel that the downgrade of Italy’s sovereign ratings by Moody’s and the uncertainty of Greece’s austerity programme have added to the economic woes. The rising debt pressures in Spain and Italy too have badly affected market sentiment.

Market players expect that China will ease monetary policies to rejuvenate the weakening economy and regain the growth momentum after the slowdown of its gross domestic product growth in the second quarter to the lowest rate in three years. Investors feel that bold measures, including easing in the monetary policy, will give the much-needed thrust to boost liquidity in the financial system.