By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) — Oil majors pressured European stock markets on Tuesday as crude prices moved lower, while heavyweight banks declined as last week’s risk rally continued to run out of steam. The Stoxx Europe 600 index XX:SXXP -0.61% dropped 0.7% to 273.14. On Monday, the index shed 0.3%, as investors paused for breath after stocks rallied on Friday on the back of fresh quantitative easing measures from the U.S. Chemicals firm Akzo Nobel NV NL:AKZA -4.56% was among biggest decliners, down 5%, after it said Chief Executive Ton Buechner is taking temporary leave as a result of a medical condition. See: Akzo Nobel CEO to take leave until October For the broader stock markets, oil firms added the most pressure, as oil prices continued to decline. Crude-oil prices for October delivery CLV2 -0.30% dropped more than $2 Monday on talk of a possible Strategic Petroleum Reserve release. Prices continued to push lower on Tuesday. See: Oil remains lower after prior-day tumble Norway’s Statoil ASA NO:STL -1.17% fell 1.1%. Among U.K. oil firms, BP PLC UK:BP -2.06% BP -1.35% slumped 2.5%, BG Group PLC UK:BG -2.60% lost 2.9% and Royal Dutch Shell PLC UK:RDSB -0.43% RDS.B -0.19% ticked 0.5% lower. Losses for U.K. oil majors weighed on the FTSE 100 index UK:UKX -0.58% , which shed 0.7% to 5,853.89. Elsewhere, investors were waiting for the German ZEW survey to give an indication of the economic mood in Germany. Spain was also in the spotlight ahead of a sale of 12- and 18-month bills. The IBEX 35 index XX:IBEX -1.62% dropped 1.4% to 8,035.50, weighed by Banco Santander SA ES:SAN -2.08% SAN 0.00% off 1.7% and BBVA SA ES:BBVA -2.86% BBVA +0.35% down 2.4%. In France, banks were also on the decline. Credit Agricole SA FR:ACA -2.91% gave up 2.8%, Société Générale SA FR:GLE -3.36% lost 2.7% and BNP Paribas SA FR:BNP -2.46% fell 1.8%. The CAC 40 index FR:PX1 -1.05% tripped 0.9% to 3,522.04, further dragged lower by Total SA FR:FP -1.16% TOT -1.01% falling 1.3%. L’Oréal SA FR:OR +0.14% gained 0.7% after Société Générale lifted the stock to buy from hold. Among German stocks, Commerzbank AG DE:CBK -4.25% led the charge south and lost 2.9%. Deutsche Bank AG DE:DBK -3.27% DB +0.07% tripped 2.6%. The DAX 30 index DX:DAX -0.96% slumped 0.9% to 7,334.11. Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.

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