World Stocks Dip, Italian Banks Suffer

LONDON,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Augst,2016) - Global stock markets mostly fell Monday on poor post-Brexit manufacturing data, with Italy rocked also by stress tests which sparked fresh questions about the health of its troubled banks. London slid 0.4 percent as a survey showed Britain's manufacturing industry has slumped to its lowest level in more than three years on the back of the vote to leave the European Union. In the eurozone, Paris stocks retreated 0.7 percent and Frankfurt 0.5 percent after weak manufacturing figures for the area. The data prompted new concern over economic fallout from Britain's shock EU exit vote, and overshadowed news that most European banks had survived assessments designed to show their ability to weather another global crisis. "Relief that European banks mostly survived the stress tests helped European markets get off to a good start on Monday but gains started to drift away ...

following disappointing UK and European data," said CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler. "UK manufacturing activity has slumped to its lowest level since February 2013. The drop in sterling has helped boost export orders but this was more than offset by a weaker production and domestic orders. "It appears post-Brexit fears amongst manufacturers were not just a flash in the pan." Lawler likewise noted that "European manufacturing has also slowed following the Brexit vote with PMIs from Spain and Italy showing a marked slowdown whilst France remains stuck in contraction. "Worryingly, two-speed Europe is emerging again with most of the gains in output and employment coming from Germany." Milan stocks shed 0.9 percent in value on growing concern over Italian bank Unicredit. Unicredit saw its shares briefly suspended after tumbling by more than six percent, as the bank emerged as the second-worst Italian performer in the stress tests.

The lender has been offloading assets in recent months but investors remain concerned that the group will have to raise additional capital. At the same time, Italy's oldest bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, was Europe's worst performing bank. However, shares in BMPS rebounded on Monday after it revealed a refinancing plan. - Italy 'problem' stalks eurozone - =================================== "It seems that despite the cheer that greeted the Monte dei Paschi rescue deal, the rest of the Italian banking sector is not feeling quite as rejuvenated this Monday," Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell told AFP. "The results of the European banking stress tests last Friday have helped confirm what was already known: the Italian banking sector is one of the key problems facing the eurozone as a whole." In Asia on Monday, the Shanghai stock market took a hammering from weak Chinese manufacturing data. Shanghai stocks lost 0.9 percent after China's official purchasing managers' index of manufacturing activity indicated the sector shrank last month. It was the first time since February that the official figures have shown a contraction. The data is the latest bad news on the world's number two economy, which is growing at its slowest pace in a quarter of a century. Elsewhere in Asia, however, fading expectations of a US interest rate rise this year hit the Dollar and boosted other indices. Weak economic growth data has poured cold water on speculation the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates before year-end. Traders are meanwhile expecting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to outline Tuesday details of the government's 28 trillion yen stimulus.