Categories: Breaking NewsBusiness

Banco Espirito Santo: European and US stock markets fall over Portugal’s bank concerns

US and European stock markets have fallen over concerns about the health of one of Portugal’s biggest banks.

Shares in Banco Espirito Santo were suspended after falling 17% following concerns about accounting irregularities at its parent group.

As a result, the Lisbon stock exchange fell more than 4%, Madrid’s IBEX was down 2.7%, while the Paris CAC 40 and Frankfurt’s DAX were both 1.8% lower.

Wall Street also opened sharply lower, with the Dow Jones falling 150 points.

This took the index well below 17,000, the level breached for the first time earlier this month.

US and European stock markets have fallen over concerns about the health of Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo

Media reports highlighting concerns about certain financial practices at the Espirito Santo group surfaced at the end of last year.

Portugal’s central bank then ordered an audit into the group’s accounts, which uncovered “serious” accounting irregularities.

The Portuguese government has said that Banco Espirito is isolated from problems at its parent, which is registered in Luxembourg, and that public finances are not at risk.

At the height of the financial crisis, Portugal was forced to take a 78 billion euro ($106 billion) bailout from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Portugal exited the bailout program last month as confidence in the country’s economy returned.

Government borrowing costs fell to an eight-year low of 3.58% in April this year, but renewed concerns about the health of the country’s financial sector pushed these back up towards 4% on Thursday.

Some commentators suggested the specific concerns about Banco Espirito fed into wider fears about the health of the eurozone economy.

W9bPs23OXN8
Clyde K. Valle

Clyde is a business graduate interested in writing about latest news in politics and business. He enjoys writing and is about to publish his first book. He’s a pet lover and likes to spend time with family. When the time allows he likes to go fishing waiting for the muse to come.

Recent Posts

Spain: At Least 158 Killed In The Country’s Worst Flooding Disaster

At least 158 people have died in Spain's worst flooding disaster in generations. On October…

2 days ago

Russia Fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, Surpassing Global GDP

Google has been fined two undecillion (a two followed by 36 zeroes) roubles by a…

2 days ago

Financing Your Home Remodel: 7 Tips for Success

Embarking on a home remodel is an exciting journey, promising enhanced comfort, increased property value,…

2 weeks ago

Donald Trump Serves Up McDonald’s Fries While Kamala Harris Celebrates 60th Birthday with Church Choir

The US presidential candidates continued to campaign across key swing states on October 20. Footage…

2 weeks ago

America PAC: Elon Musk Promises to Award $1M Each Day to Swing States Voters

Elon Musk has said he will give away $1 million a day to a registered…

2 weeks ago

Canada Expels 6 Indian Diplomats Amid Khalistan Row

India and Canada have decided to expel their top envoys along with other diplomats as…

3 weeks ago