European markets are sinking today (April 12) due to heavy selling of German bank stocks.
The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 index is down 1.2%, with the German DAX falling 1.8% and
banking stocks declining 2.3% following reports that an undisclosed investor has sold large
stakes in Germany's biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank (DB) and Commerzbank (CBK).
Shares of Deutsche Bank are down 9.5% and Commerzbank is down 8.6% on the day. Media
reports claim the sale amounts to 116 million shares of Deutsche Bank and 72.5 million shares
of Commerzbank — more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the two German lenders.
Global investors are also watching the U.S. consumer price index reading for March that comes
out this morning, as well as the producer price index that’s released tomorrow (April 13), for
indications as to how drastically the U.S. Federal Reserve will have to act to reign in inflation.
Earnings season also kicks off in the U.S. this week, with banking giants JPMorgan Chase
(JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Morgan Stanley (MS) all due to report.
European Central Bank policymakers meet in Frankfurt, Germany on Thursday (April 14) to
discuss their next monetary policy move, faced with the tough task of weighing surging
consumer prices against downward pressure on economic growth from the war in Ukraine.
