AFP, London :
European stock markets sank on Friday on concerns over New York’s first Ebola case, looming eurozone bank stress test results, and news of a British economic slowdown.
In late morning deals, London’s FTSE 100 index slid 0.29 percent to stand at 6,400.77 points, as data showed British economic growth slowed to 0.7 percent in the third quarter after 0.9-percent expansion in the second.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 dipped 0.12 percent to 9,036.83 points and in Paris the CAC 40 fell 0.30 percent to 4,145.16 compared with Thursday’s close.
“Equity traders have been met with red across their screens this morning as fresh Ebola worries and looming bank stress test results have dented trader’s optimism,” said analyst Alastair McCaig at IG trading group.
The first confirmed Ebola case in New York City has meanwhile hurt investors’ risk appetite.
On Sunday, the European Central Bank (ECB) will issue the results of an unprecedented health check of eurozone banks under new powers for the central bank. These tests are one of the main reforms after the eurozone debt crisis to reduce the risks of a repetition of crisis in parts of the banking system.
New frameworks are intended to put up firewalls so that a fall in value of government bonds, held heavily by banks, does not pull down banks and lead to rescues by governments, which then have to issue more debt.
The ECB will publish the results of the audit-which will put under the microscope the balance sheets of about 130 banks accounting for 82 percent of total banking assets in 19 countries (the eurozone plus Lithuania) — at 1100 GMT on Sunday.
At the same time in London, the European Banking Authority (EBA) will publish the results of its own stress test for the wider European Union.
Analysts are confident that because banks have been taking action for months now to plug any holes in their balance sheets, there will not be any nasty surprises.
“We expect that the majority of banks will pass the assessment,” said credit rating agency Fitch.
On Friday, Europe’s top banks were rising slightly. In London, British banks Barclays and Lloyds saw their share prices rise by 0.22 percent and 0.68 percent, to stand at 226.4 pence and 76.85 pence respectively.
In Paris, Credit Agricole shares advanced 0.22 percent to 11.62 euros and Societe Generale was up 1.04 percent at 49.7 euros.
Shares in Commerzbank meanwhile gained 0.90 percent to 11.78 euros in Frankfurt.
Publisher Pearson was meanwhile the top faller in the British capital, losing 2.78 percent to 1,136.5 pence.
The owner of the Financial Times newspaper revealed that sales fell six percent in the nine months of 2014 from a year earlier, hit by adverse currency factors.
The stock was also hit by news that chief financial officer Robin Freestone will leave before the end of 2015, after a total of 10 years at the group.
In Paris, French luxury products group Kering topped the CAC 40 fallers board, sinking 4.14 percent to 147.2 euros.
Kering posted rising third-quarter sales after the market close on Thursday, but investors focussed on falling revenues at its high-end brand Gucci.
Asian markets were mixed on Friday following strong gains on Wall Street, with Tokyo enjoying a significant bump due to the dollar’s rise against the yen.
Tokyo rose 0.79 percent, Sydney added 0.54 percent, while Hong Kong lost 0.13 percent, Seoul fell 0.31 percent and Shanghai ended flat.
