Europe got annihilated

European markets took an absolute hammering on Tuesday after awful data for the continent's biggest economies. Stocks in all four of the eurozone's biggest economies, closed down by more than 2% after Markit's latest PMI data showed that Europe's stuttering economy is struggling for a "significant gain in momentum."

Stocks crashed at the open thanks to an overnight slump in the price of oil, but Markit's data meant that shares never recovered, with banking and commodity stocks the worst affected. The Stoxx banking index fell by 3%, while its basic resources market lost 3.8%. Here's how the banking index looked at the European close:

Of the four biggest economies, the FTSE MIB in Italy, and the DAX in Germany were worst hit. The MIB slumped 2.8% to 17,143 points, led lower by Banco Popolare and Banca di Milano, two of the country's largest banks. Italy's key exchange was particularly hit after news that the ECB is set to force through the selling of bad loans from certain Italian lenders.

In Germany, the DAX was off 2.69% to 9,558. Its biggest losers were auto parts maker Continental, and stricken bank Deutsche Bank. Here's how the DAX ended the day:

In Britain, the FTSE 100 got off comparatively lightly, losing just 1.2% of its value, despite Markit numbers showing that Q1 of 2016 was the worst in three years for Britain's services sector. The FTSE's biggest single loser on the day was Aberdeen Asset Management, down 5.2%. Randgold Resources was the big gainer, up 2.5%.

Peripheral European indexes didn't fare much better than the big eurozone bourses. Here's the scoreboard for the rest of Europe:

• France's CAC 40 - down 2.15%
• Spain's IBEX 35 - down 2.24%
• The Netherlands AEX - down 1.7%
• Belgium's BEL 20 - down 1.44%
• Euro Stoxx 50 broad index - down 2.23%

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