European Stocks Slide As ECB's Draghi Warns On Recovery

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell Monday, trimming last week's gains amid lingering concerns about the sluggish euro zone economy.

European Central Bank head Mario Draghi today hinted at further stimulus programs as he warned that the euro zone economic recovery "is losing momentum" and that risks for the economy were "to the downside."

"Therefore, we stand ready to use additional unconventional instruments within our mandate, and alter the size and / or the composition of our unconventional interventions should it become necessary to further address risks of a too prolonged period of low inflation," Draghi said.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks fell 0.48 percent to 3,257.48.

The German DAX lost nearly half a percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.42 percent.

Weakness was more pronounced in the U.K., as traders continued to react to Scotland's "no" vote on independence. The FTSE 100 index of the U.K. dropped 0.94 percent.

Major retailer Tesco was hammered after announcing it will hold a "full and frank investigation" as it overstated its half-year profit guidance by 250 million pounds. The stock plunged more than 11 percent.

Siemens is losing moderately after deciding to buy US-based Dresser Rand in a transaction valued at about $7.6 billion, including debt. Siemens lost 0.9 percent.

Deutsche Wohnen lost 0.73 percent. Merrill Lynch cut the stock to "Underperform" from "Neutral."

Merck KGaA agreed to buy Sigma-Aldrich Corp. for $140 per share in cash, in a transaction valued at $17.0 billion. Merck was flat.

Meanwhile, Kuka gained more than 2 percent, after Citigroup started the stock with a "Buy" rating.

Oil giant Total was up fractionally after it announced an additional asset sale program of $10 billion in 2015-17.

Publishing Technology expects full year results to be significantly below market expectations. The stock plunged 17.7 percent.

Sulzer, which had announced non-exclusive talks to buy Dresser Rand, lost about 4 percent in Zurich.

Swiss lender Julius Baer is interested in acquiring Royal Bank of Scotland's Coutts International business but will not enter a bidder war, a Swiss paper reported on Sunday.

UBS lost an appeal and must pay a 1.1 billion-euro ($1.4 billion) security deposit required by French investigators, a Paris court ruled. Shares were down 1.5 percent.