European stocks fell for a second day, extending losses from the Stoxx Europe 600 Index’s biggest quarterly drop since 2008, as concern deepened the region’s debt crisis will curb growth.
National benchmark indexes retreated in all 18 western European markets, except for Ireland. Germany’s DAX slumped 2.3 percent, France’s CAC 40 declined 1.9 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 lost 1 percent.
FTSE 100 5,076 -52.98 -1.03%, CAC 40 2,927 -55.13 -1.85%, DAX 5,377 -125.32 -2.28%
BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Rio Tinto Group, the world’s biggest mining companies, declined more than 1.5 percent as copper tumbled to a 14-month low in London. Commerzbank AG (CBK) and Societe Generale SA led losses in banking shares. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) sank to a one-year low.