February 03, 2009

World stock markets finished mostly lower Monday, with financial and energy stocks leading the way down as investors prepared for another week of poor earnings reports and gloomy economic data.

After Asian markets slipped, there was little appetite to buy in Europe as faith in a rapid turnaround in the global economy and corporate earnings faded. Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 ended down 1.7 percent at 4,077.78, while the German DAX dropped 1.5 percent at 4,271.04. France's CAC 40 shed 1.5 percent at 2,930.05.