There was an interesting close in Europe on Thursday:
Bloomberg reports that DAX futures “fell as much as 4.1 percent as a cascade of trades pushed the volume in the contracts to a quarter of the daily average between 3:45 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. in Frankfurt.”
And there were some interesting developments after the close, too.
Breaking at pixel time:
Thursday, August 25, 2011 12:18:33 PM RTRS – POP MILANO BOARD APPROVES CAPITAL INCREASE -SOURCE CLOSE TO SITUATIONPMII.MI
Thursday, August 25, 2011 12:27:30 PM RTRS – POP MILANO SAYS CAP HIKE TO BE FOR UP TO 1.2 BLN EUROS, AMOUNT TO BE DECIDED JUST BEFORE LAUNCH OF OFFERPMII.MI
And in related news, European regulators announced they were extending the ban on short-selling financial stocks. The provisions remain unchanged but it’s interesting to note that the ban has been extended to November 11, which with delightful piquancy is also Armistice Day. This is near the maximum three month extension period allowed by the French regulators and surely underlines the concern over banks that remains in European capitals.
Statements here from the French, Spanish, Italian, Belgian and Greek regulatory authorities.
(H/T Joseph Cotterill for the umlaut comedy.)
Related link:
Will the short-selling ban come up short? – FT Alphaville