Insurers tumble to lead third day of losses

Eurostoxx 50: 2,883.84 (-25.89) Frankfurt DAX: 6,981.49 (-81.60) Paris CAC: 3,928.68 (-35.31):EUROPEAN STOCKS dropped for a third day, erasing this year's advance, as insurers tumbled after the biggest Japan earthquake in at least a century triggered a seven-meter tsunami and killed more than 1,000.

Swiss Reinsurance and Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurers, plunged more than 3 per cent. K+S sank 4.7 per cent as BASF sold its remaining 10.3 per cent stake in the potash producer. FirstGroup lost 3.6 per cent after saying trading at its US school bus unit has been disappointing.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.9 per cent to 275.42, extending this week’s drop to 2.3 per cent and leaving it almost unchanged for the year.

The gauge has tumbled 5.4 per cent since reaching a 2½-year high on February 17th as crude oil surged amid political turmoil in Libya.

National benchmark indexes fell in all of the 18 western European markets today, except Greece.

Britain’s FTSE 100 Index lost 0.3 per cent, Germany’s DAX sank 1.2 per cent and France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.9 per cent.

Greece’s ASE Index climbed 2.3 per cent as EU leaders gathered in Brussels to discuss a blueprint to improve competitiveness, a plan Germany demanded as a condition for expanding support for the region’s weakest economies.

Swiss Re, the world’s second-biggest reinsurer, dropped 3.5 per cent to 51.7 Swiss francs. Munich Re, the largest, lost 4.3 per cent to €111.75. Officials at the two companies declined to comment on their possible losses from the quake.

Scor SE, France’s largest reinsurer, tumbled 5.2 per cent to €19.26 as a measure of European insurance stocks posted the biggest retreat since November.

K+S slid 4.7 per cent to €51.67, the biggest drop since January, as BASF sold 19.7 million shares for €50 apiece.

FirstGroup declined 3.6 per cent to 347.4 pence after the company said trading at its First Student unit had been “disappointing” this quarter as US school boards face budget pressure.

Sacyr Vallehermoso paced advancing shares after UBS raised its recommendation for the Spanish builder to “buy” from “neutral”. The stock rallied 6.1 per cent to €8.53, the biggest advance in a month. – (Bloomberg)