European stocks dive over 2% as euro falls to 2-decade low against dollar

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) – European stock exchanges dove more than 2% to close with massive losses on Tuesday, while euro fell to its lowest level in almost two decades against US dollar.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, was down 8.63 points, or 2.11%, to finish the day at 400.68.

The UK’s FTSE 100 fell 207 points, or 2.86%, to end the day at 7,025 and Germany’s DAX 30 lost 372 points, or 2.91%, to close at 12,401.

France’s CAC 40 declined 159 points, or 2.68%, to 5,794.

Italy’s FTSE MIB was the worst performer of the day by plummeting 638 points, or 2.99%, to finish at 20,705.

Spain’s IBEX 35 declined 202 points, or 2.48%, to end the day at 7,959.

Earlier Tuesday, the euro against the US dollar plummeted to 1.0235 – its lowest value since December 2002.

EU’s current account surplus declined to 0.4% of its gross domestic product in the first quarter of this year, according to Eurostat.

The figure is down from 1.4% of GDP from the previous quarter, and down from 3.6% of GDP from the same period of last year.