European markets took a beating on Tuesday
At the close across Europe, not a single major share index was in the green, with most losing at least 2%, and a few seeing losses of more than 3%.
In Britain, the FTSE 100 - though not the worst performing index - had a shocking day, with ten individual stocks losing more than 5% in value. The index ended back below 6,000 points, down 2.3% overall. The worst losers on the day were, understandably, oil and commodity stocks.
The biggest losers were Anglo American, the mining firm that just can't catch a break right now, and BP, which this morning announced 7,000 job losses, and a 51% fall in profits. They fell 8.32%, and 8.72% respectively. Here's how the FTSE finished:
Spain's IBEX 35 index was one of the worst of Europe's stocks, closing at 8,529 points, down 2.95%. As well as oil's slump, Spanish stocks had to contend with some disappointing data coming from the country's job market. In January, there were 57,200 more jobless claims than in the previous month. Here's the IBEX:
- Germany's DAX 30 - down 1.82%
- Italy's FTSE MIB - down 3.03%
- France's CAC 40 - down 2.5%
- Eurostoxx 50 - down 2.19%
- Russia's RTSI - down 4%
- The Netherlands' AEX - down 2.17%
The main driver of all this market gloom today has been oil's return to losses after a brief rally at the end of last week. On Monday oil fell by as much as 8%, and today the slide continued. West Texas Intermediate, the American benchmark briefly dropped below $30 per barrel this afternoon, while Brent fell as much as 5%.
At the European close, both benchmarks had pared their losses a little, with Brent down 3.4% to $33.08 and WTI at $30.45, down 3.7%.
Oil's slide has been helped by diminishing chatter about a potential OPEC production cut. Rumours of the the oil producing countries turning off the taps sent oil soaring towards the end of last week, but with no action seeming imminent, the continued supply glut has once again turned investors away from the world's most crucial commodity.