European stocks smashed in broad-based retreat

Double-digit declines were seen for companies including French care homes company Orpea
FR:ORP,
German remote software maker TeamViewer
XE:TMV
and Swiss e-pharmacy provider Zur Rose
CH:ROSE.

The German DAX
DX:DAX
and French CAC 40
FR:PX1
each declined more than 2%, and the U.K. FTSE 100
UK:UKX
fell 1.6%.

“The poor start to the week comes hot on the heels of a rather bearish week for risk assets. Investors have not been impressed by the results of U.S. bank earnings in the fourth quarter, while on a more macro level, concerns about policy tightening from the Fed and high levels of inflation around the world have also weighed heavily on risk appetite,” said Renne Friedman, senior economist at Exante.

Despite a smaller weighting toward technology and other growth sectors, European stocks haven’t been much of a refuge, sliding over 5% this year as the U.S. S&P 500
SPX
has dropped 8%.

Russian stocks
RU:RTS
collapsed on Monday after the State Department ordered families of diplomats to leave Ukraine, a sign of a possible war breaking out. The U.S. and European allies have said they would retaliate for an invasion with sanctions.

There were a handful of gainers. Accell
NL:ACCEL
shares surged 25% to €57.50 after a KKR-led consortium agreed to pay €58 per share, or €1.6 billion in cash for the maker of Raleigh bicycles.

Vodafone
UK:VOD

VOD
shares rallied 6% on speculation of tie-ups with Three in the U.K. and Iliad in Italy.

Unilever
UK:ULVR

UL
shares rallied 7% after The Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Nelson Peltz took a stake after an attempt to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s
UK:GSK
consumer health unit quickly fizzled.