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Banking shares lead sharp fall on Frankfurt stock exchange (Roundup)
Sep 15, 2008, 11:52 GMT
Frankfurt - Banking shares led a sharp decline on the Frankfurt stock exchange Monday, as European markets reacted with extreme nervousness to the bankruptcy of US bank Lehman Brothers.
Commerzbank fell most, declining 11.6 per cent to 15.47 euros, as the DAX index of the top 30 shares fell 4.1 per cent to 5980. During Monday's trading it hit a year-low of 5949.
Deutsche Bank was off 8.8 per cent at 52.82 euros, while insurer Allianz and travel company TUI had also lost more than 8 per cent by early afternoon.
One analyst spoke of 'the end of investment banking as we know it,' while another said the markets had been spooked by the realization that the US government would not bail out every major bank that had overreached itself.
But veteran banking expert Wolfgang Gerke predicted that some banks would emerge stronger from the crisis by picking up the best parts of those going under.
'Investment banks will continue to do great business in the future,' he said.
And Martin Faust, professor at the Frankfurt School of Finance, predicted European banks would ultimately benefit.
'European financial institutions will strengthen - including Deutsche Bank,' Faust told the finance agency dpa-AFX.
'US banks will be weakened and will play a reduced role in the world,' he predicted.
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