LONDON: European stock markets ended mixed on Monday, in part owing to profit-taking, while the pound slumped on a poll suggesting Scotland could break away from the United Kingdom in an imminent referendum.
Brent crude oil, Europe's benchmark, meanwhile slid under $100 a barrel for the first time in more than 14 months against a backdrop of solid supplies and dampening demand growth, traders said.
London's FTSE 100 index of top companies fell by 0.30 percent to stand at 6,834.77 points by close.
The British pound slid to a nine-month low point of $1.6128 -- before rebounding slightly to $1.6143 -- and dropped to 80.16 pence against the euro, which was the lowest for three weeks.
"Financial markets got a wake-up call this morning to the potential fall-out from a 'yes' vote at the Scottish independence referendum in 10 days' time," said Michael Hewson, chief analyst at CMC Markets UK.
"The pound has slid sharply on the currency markets while the FTSE 100 has also come under pressure as companies with a significant Scottish presence have seen their shares prices slide."
Among the biggest fallers were Royal Bank of Scotland, which ended down 1.30 percent to 342.5 pence.
At the weekend, a YouGov/Sunday Times poll gave the "Yes" camp 51 percent support compared to the "No" camp's 49 percent, excluding undecided voters.
Although the two-point lead is within the margin of error, the findings dramatically up the stakes ahead of the vote on September 18, handing momentum to First Minister Alex Salmond's Scottish National Party (SNP).
Meanwhile the question of whether Scotland could keep the pound has become a defining issue in the debate ahead of the vote on September 18.
Salmond insists Scotland should have a formal, euro-style monetary union with what would remain of the United Kingdom -- England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
But the three main British parties reject any such arrangement.
German data limits losses:
Europe's other main stock markets ended mixed on Monday, with Frankfurt's DAX 30 gaining 0.11 percent to 9,758.03 points and the CAC 40 in Paris ended on 4,474.93 points, down 0.26 percent compared with Friday's close.
"European shares are trading lower seeing some early profit-taking in the aftermath of last week's ECB action and the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebels agreeing to a ceasefire," said Markus Huber, senior analyst at traders Peregrine & Black.
"Much better than expected trade data out of Germany for July reported earlier this morning should provide German stocks and especially exporters with some optimism."
European stock markets had closed mixed on Friday as investors digested the ECB's surprise deflation-fighting stimulus measures and figures showed US unemployment dropped less than hoped, dealers said.
Last week, the European Central Bank cut its key interest rate to a record-low of 0.05 percent from 0.15 percent and announced an asset-purchase plan to counter deflation pressures, boost lending and lift sluggish growth.
US markets opened mixed. By midday on Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 0.13 percent to 17,114.95 points and the broad-based S&P was down 0.26 to 2,002.47.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.06 percent to 4,092.38 points.
Oil below $100:
In foreign exchange activity, the European single currency was down to $1.2939 from $1.2952 late in New York on Friday. The euro had last week slumped to a 14-month low of $1.2920 on Thursday after the ECB move.
In commodities trading, Brent crude oil slid to $99.76 a barrel to record its lowest level since June 24, 2013 after coming under pressure in recent weeks also from expectations of easing demand growth.
Brent has lost more than 13 percent of its value since June 19, when it reached a nine-month high point of $115.71 a barrel amid major unrest in key crude producer Iraq.
The price of gold fell to $1,259 an ounce from $1,266 Friday on the London Bullion Market. It had at one point hit $1,252.89 an ounce, its lowest value in three months.
Comments
Comments are closed.