By Simon Kennedy
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets fell sharply in early trading Friday after rate hike fears sparked a heavy sell-off in Shanghai. Mining stocks were among the biggest fallers, including a 4% drop for both Rio Tinto (UK:RIO 4,325, -76.50, -1.74%) and Antofagasta PLC (UK:ANTO 1,434, -38.00, -2.58%) . Banking stocks also fell, with Societe Generale (FR:GLE 42.04, +0.06, +0.14%) falling 2.9% Paris. Shares in EADS (FR:EAD 18.77, -0.24, -1.26%) dropped 2.4% after the company released its third-quarter results. Among the main indexes, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index dropped 2.4% to 3,774.98, the French CAC 40 index dropped 1.6% to 5,720.20 and the German DAX 30 index (DX:DAX 6,704, -19.55, -0.29%) fell 1.5% to 6,620.75. |
