European Stocks Tumble On Gloomy Economic Outlook

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell sharply Monday amid geopolitical tensions and worries about the pace of the euro zone economic recovery.

Eurozone economic confidence weakened to a 10-month low in September as consumers and retailers turned more cautious suggesting that the region hardly recovered from a flat performance in the second quarter.

The economic sentiment index dropped to 99.9, in line with forecast, from 100.6 in August, survey results from the European Commission showed Monday. The index fell below its long-term average of 100 for the first time since last November.

Meanwhile, pro-democracy rallies in Hong Kong sprung up around the city after police used tear gas on pockets of protesters overnight.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks slipped 1.01 percent.

The German DAX lost 0.71 percent, the French CAC 40 slipped 0.83 percent and the FTSE 100 index of the U.K. eased 0.04 percent.

In Frankfurt, Commerzbank declined 4.56 percent. Merrill Lynch raised Commerzbank to "Most Preferred List."

RWE lost 4 percent, while SGL Carbon is pluged 12.3 percent, after announcing increase in share capital.

Air France KLM edged down 0.8 percent after pilots ended their two-week long strike.

In London, Balfour Beatty plunged 15.3 percent after a profit warning.

Standard Chartered and HSBC shares fell amid the unrest in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Compass Group lost 2.4 percent. The company reported good performance in its fourth quarter.

UBS was moderately higher in Zurich. The Swiss banking giant announced the launch of a share-for-share exchange offer to establish a group holding company, UBS Group AG.

Nestle said it named Americas head Chris Johnson, as Executive Vice President, Nestle Business Excellence. Laurent Freixe, currently European boss, will succeed Johnson as head of Americas. Shares were flat.