Chemical stocks and car-makers lead decline

Eurostoxx 50: 2,784.20 (-67.91) Frankfurt DAX: 6,647.66 (-218.97) Paris CAC: 3,780.85 (-97.19)EUROPEAN STOCKS slumped the most in four months as concern grew that a Japanese nuclear power plant damaged by last week's earthquake will leak radiation.

Car-makers and chemical shares led losses on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index as all 19 industry groups lost at least 1.5 per cent. BHP Billiton led a sell-off in basic-resource shares as metal prices retreated.

The Stoxx 600 tumbled 2.3 per cent to 266.32, sliding below its 200-day moving average for the first time since August. The Stoxx 600 has retreated 8.5 per cent from this year’s high on February 17th.

National indexes also fell in all the 18 western European markets yesterday. Germany’s DAX exchange sank 3.2 per cent and France’s CAC 40 Index retreated 2.5 per cent.

Chemical shares and car-makers led declines in Europe, with both industry groups falling more than 3 per cent.

Renault, which has a 43 per cent stake in Japan’s Nissan Motor, lost 1.6 per cent to €37.55.

Volkswagen, Europe’s largest car-maker, retreated 3.8 per cent to €108.95, the lowest price in four months.

BASF, the world’s biggest chemical company, slid 4 per cent to €55.46, while Rhodia, a French speciality chemicals maker, lost 3.2 per cent to €19.01.

E.ON and RWE, Germany’s biggest utilities, sank 2.8 per cent to €21.25 and 3.6 per cent to €44 respectively.

Electricité de France, Europe’s biggest power generator, lost 1.4 per cent to €28.56.

The stock was cut to “sell” from “buy” at Aurel BGC, which predicted that regulators will rewrite the rules governing nuclear power stations in the aftermath of the Fukushima plant’s inability to withstand March 11th’s tremor and the subsequent tsunami.

Clean-energy companies rose for a second day amid speculation that they would benefit from increased demand for alternative energy.

Wind-turbine maker Nordex jumped 19 per cent to €8.15, while SolarWorld soared 23 per cent to €10.64. Q-Cells surged 17 per cent to €3.50.

BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, lost 1.7 per cent to 2,250.5 pence. – (Bloomberg)