European stocks (SXXP) declined for a second day as concern that the region’s banks will have to raise capital overshadowed a report showing that U.S. companies added more workers to their payrolls than economists had predicted.
UniCredit SpA, which announced a rights offer at a 43 percent discount yesterday, slumped to a 19-year low. Societe Generale SA dropped 5.4 percent after announcing it will cut corporate- and investment-banking staff. In the U.S., private employers added 325,000 workers to payrolls in December, according to a report from Roseland, New Jersey-based ADP Employer Services. That was the biggest increase in records going back to 2001. The median projection in the survey called for an advance of 178,000.FTSE 5,624 -44.07 -0.78%, CAC 3,150 -43.29 -1.36%, DAX 6,100 -11.86 -0.19%
Societe Generale, France’s second-largest lender, retreated 5.4 percent to 16.08 euros after saying it will cut about 1,580 jobs at its corporate and investment bank, about 10 percent of the unit’s total staff.