European shares continued the fall seen in Asia on Monday, when the Shanghai Composite in China closed down 8.5%.
Shares in supermajor’s Shell and BP were down around 2.5% early on Monday and nearly 6% by 1pm, with French supermajor Total down almost 3% in the morning and 5.5% by 2pm local time.
Norway’s Statoil was down at almost 5% by 2pm local time, while UK gas player BG Group was down around 3% by 11am but almost 7% by 1pm in London.
On the London Stock Exchange, Russian giant Rosneft and UK player Premier Oil slumped more than 8% each early doors, Anglo-Irish independent Tullow Oil sank more than 6% in the morning and was at almost 10% down by 1pm, and Iraqi Kurdistan-focused player Genel Energy and Russia’s Gazprom Neft were down nearly 5% in the morning, sinking to around 7.5% and 4.6% by the early afternoon.
In Madrid, Spanish player Repsol was down almost 3% in the morning and 5.6% by 2pm local time, while in Italy Eni’s shares were down around 2.5% and 4.5% byt 2pm local time.
Mining giants were particularly hard hit in London, as China is such a large commodities importer. At around 11am local time, BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American were all down between 5% and 6% by 11am in London.
Chinese stocks have been hit hard in recent weeks, with the government trying to steady the ship with numerous devaluations of the yuan. Its latest measure, to allow the main state pension to invest in the stock market, failed to quell investor fears of an economic slump.
Brent and US crude futures hit 6.5-year lows on Monday to drop below $45 and $40 per barrel, respectively.
– Reuters