Europe chemical stocks fall on renewed eurozone fears

European chemical stocks were down on Thursday in line with financial markets affected by Spain’s increasing debt problems and the US indicating it will hold off on further monetary stimulus.

Investor confidence was hit on Wednesday after a poorer than expected sale of Spanish government bonds raised new fears over the health of the eurozone economy.

The markets also slumped after the US Federal Reserve released minutes on Tuesday from its March meeting, indicating that another round of fiscal stimulus would not be made available. 

At 10:39 GMT, the UK’s FTSE 100 index was trading 0.62% down on its previous close. Germany’s DAX was down by 1.23% and the CAC 40 in France was down by 0.74%.

The Dow Jones Euro Stoxx Chemicals index was trading down 1.30%, as shares in many of Europe’s major chemical companies dropped.

Germany-based chemical major BASF stocks were trading down by 1.42%, while shares in Swiss specialty chemicals company Clariant  were trading down by 2.36%.

German chemical major Bayer was down 1.99% and France-based chemical firm Arkema had fallen by 1.78%.

Earlier on Thursday, shares of most major petrochemical firms in Asia declined amid renewed concerns over the eurozone, which is among the region’s biggest importers of petrochemical products.