Posted by Jack
25 July 08 0945 a.m. PST: The following is condensed from MarketWatch and is minutes old — European financial stocks were in retreat after a profit warning from Munich Re and a prediction from Citigroup that the British economy was about to enter a recession. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 fell 0.2% to 281.76 as a short-lived rally in the financial sector sputtered. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 closed down 0.2% to 5,352.60, while the German DAX 30 dipped 0.1% to 6,436.71. The French CAC 40 gained 0.7% to 4,377.18. Banks finished broadly lower after Citigroup slashed earnings estimates throughout the British banking sector by more than 40%.