European stocks hit one-year low as turmoil continues

European stocks fell to a one-year low as concerns about global growth intensified amid disappointing US data and another precipitous slide in oil prices, which fell below $30 a barrel. The Stoxx 600 tumbled 3 per cent to 329.28 in London, taking its decline since last April to 20 per cent.

Shares extended declines after US retail sales expectedly fell in December to cap the weakest year since 2009, and a gauge of manufacturing in New York slumped. Concern about the rout in oil and the state of China’s economy has dominated global markets in 2016, helping spur a $5.6 trillion equity sell-off.

DUBLIN

Dublin’s Iseq tracked the global sell-off, closing down 2.1 per cent or 136 points at 6,318. Leading the charge down was building materials group

CRH

, which fell nearly 5 per cent to €23.21. The fall in its share accounted for nearly half the overall drop in the Iseq.

Ryanair

finished the day down 2 per cent at €14.40.

Bucking the trend was Paddy Power, which received regulatory approval for its proposed €10 billion merger with rival Betfair. The share, which had been trading down at about €110, rallied 7 per cent on the back of the news – the biggest intra-day swing in the market – to finish up 3.1 per cent at €118.

A further collapse in global oil prices saw shares in Petroceltic fall 2.2 per cent to €0.22 cents. Property firm Ires Reit outperformed the sector, falling only 0.9 per cent to €1.12 on the back of announcing an extension of existing credit facilities.

LONDON

Britain’s top share index fell to its lowest closing level in more than three years, hit by losses in commodity-related stocks as

BHP Billiton

suffered a major writedown and oil fell below a key level. The blue-chip FTSE 100 equity index ended down 1.9 per cent at 5,804.10 points – its lowest closing level since late 2012.

The FTSE is some 20 per cent below a record high of 7,122.74 points reached last April and 7 per cent down since the start of 2016. Mining stocks suffered a further blow after BHP Billiton said it would write down the value of its US shale assets by $7.2 billion due to the bleak outlook for oil prices.

BHP Billiton fell 6.4 per cent, while Anglo American slumped 11.5 per cent. Glencore also fell 6.5 per cent.

EUROPE

The FTSEurofirst 300 ended down 2.8 per cent at 1,297.1 points, making its third straight weekly loss. It fell 6.7 per cent last week when

China

allowed its currency to devalue.

Among other fallers, Brenntag dropped 5.9 per cent after the chemicals firm was cut to "hold" from "buy" by Deutsche Bank. Energy companies also slid, with Total and Royal Dutch Shell pacing declines.

Among stocks moving on corporate news, Volkswagen retreated 3.5 per cent after data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association showed the German carmaker's market share in Europe last year fell for the first time since 2007.

NEW YORK

A plunge in oil prices sent US stocks sharply lower at the open yesterday, with the Nasdaq falling more than 3 per cent to its lowest since August 24th and S&P 500 less than 30 points away from its August lows.

US economic data was also not very encouraging, with an unexpected drop in retail sales and industrial output declining again in December, underscoring a worsening outlook for fourth-quarter economic growth. By early evening , the Dow Jones industrial average was down 418.05 points, or 2.55 per cent, at 15,961.

Dow components Exxon and Chevron were down 2-4 per cent, while Caterpillar dropped 4 per cent. Intel tumbled 9 per cent to $29.66 after its results and forecast raised concerns about the chipmaker's growth.

That weighed on the chip index, which fell 4.5 per cent, its steepest drop since March.

– (Additional reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg)