Europe still feeling sub-prime after-effects

The fallout from the US sub-prime lending crisis and concerns about a US economic slowdown continue to affect sentiment towards European equities. Markets have remained volatile since the credit crisis began to unfold and, although overall stockmarket levels have held up, companies with US or cyclical exposure have been hit hard, almost without regard to track records or business models. Unsurprisingly, the banking sector has been particularly weak in response to concerns about the impact of the freezing of the commercial paper market and write-downs on bridging loans for mergers and acqu...