March 9 (Reuters) – European shares slumped to their lowest in over two months on Monday, as surging oil prices exacerbated inflation worries with the U.S.- Israeli war on Iran showing no signs of slowing down.
The pan-European benchmark fell for the third session, down 2.34% at 585.08 points by 0810 GMT. The index fell 5.5% last week, marking it’s worst week in nearly a year.
Oil surged more than 25% with prices just shy of $120 a barrel, as concerns over drawn out shipping and supply disruptions gripped markets due to an expanding conflict in the Middle East. [O/R]
Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signalling that hardliners remain firmly in charge in Tehran.
In Europe, banks, which were in the epicenter of the sell-off last week, extended declines with a 3.2% fall.
Tech stocks fell 3.1%.
Carriers Lufthansa and Air France KLM fell 3.9% and 5.2%, respectively.
On the flip side higher crude prices pushed energy 0.1% higher, while defense firm Leonardo added 1.4%.
Attention now turns to comments by ECB President Christine Lagarde while board member Piero Cipollone and euro zone finance ministers are due to speak at Eurogroup meeting later in the day.
Data showed German industrial orders fell more than expected month-on-month in January.
(Reporting by Avinash P and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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