Investing.com - European stocks opened lower on Tuesday, as the Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) emissions cheating scandal continued to weigh on markets and global growth concerns persisted.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 retreated 0.89%, France’s CAC 40 tumbled 0.95%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slid 0.77%.
Markets were jittery after International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde said in an interview on Monday that the IMF is likely to revise downwards its estimates for global economic growth due to slower expansion in emerging economies.
Energy stocks were broadly lower, as Italy's ENI (MILAN:ENI) tumbled 0.96% and France's oil and gas major plummeted 1.11%, while German rival E.ON lost 1.22%.
Financial stocks added to losses, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) dropped 0.85% and 1.04%, while Germany's Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) plunged 2.39% and 2.24%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) retreated 0.28% and 0.91% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) tumbled 1.16% and 1.51%.
Elsewhere, Volkswagen dove 3.63% as the beleaguered German carmaker's emissions cheating scandal continued to dominate.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 lost 1.01%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower.
Shares in Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) slid 0.77% and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) retreated 0.95%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) and Barclays (LONDON:BARC) plummeted 0.97% and 1.98% respectively.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were mixed. Randgold Resources (LONDON:RRS) dropped 0.78% and Bhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) tumbled 1.05%, while Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) gained 0.84%. Glencore (LONDON:GLEN) saw shares surge 5% after sinking 29% on Monday amid concerns the company's debt pile its too large to withstand a prolonged decline in commodity prices.
Shares in Wolseley (LONDON:WOS) plunged 7.63% after the plumbing and heating products distributor reported a sharp decline in fiscal 2015 profit.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.09% slip, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.05% uptick, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.05% gain.