Europe

17/12/2008

As commodity prices headed south and economies across Europe contracted during November, the rapid pace of the economic downturn prompted a raft of European countries to announce various fiscal stimulus packages. Failures in the global banking system began to spread into the real economy, with the impact being felt across industries. European equities continued to face an uphill battle as markets remained volatile during November. Financial stocks took a beating and commodities continued to lose momentum, with the oil price spiralling below $50 a barrel before bouncing back to close the month ahead of the $50 mark. A fall in eurozone business confidence subdued sentiment and economic indicators revealed that eurozone annual inflation had fallen from 3.2% to 2.1% in October, representing the largest monthly fall since the euro began.