Milan: European shares fell on Tuesday, weighed down by losses among financials and commodity stocks, while Italian bank Monte dei Paschi touched a fresh record low on continued worries over its capital strength.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.7 per cent by 0710 GMT (12:40 p.m. in India), adding to losses seen on Monday, while the FTSEurofirst 300 declined by the same amount.
Europe's STOXX 600 Basic Resources index, which contains major mining stocks, topped sectoral fallers with a decline of around 2 per cent, as copper prices eased from a two-month peak on concerns over Chinese demand.
Financial stocks were also lower, with the bank sector index down more than 1 per cent. Monte dei Paschi fell 7 per cent after Italian newspapers said the government was in talks with the European Commission about injecting capital into the bank without imposing losses on retail investors.
Among the few gainers, Ryanair Holdings rose 1.7 per cent after reporting a rise in June traffic figures.
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