The Stoxx 600 index closed down 0.3%.
SBB shares plunged 24.2%, extending losses to their lowest level in five years, after the Swedish real estate company said on Monday it would defer payment of dividends and offer no equity. 2.63 billion Swedish krona ($259.1 million) after downgrading Standard & Co. Poor’s Overall Credit Rating.
The move coincided with declines of between 3.4% and 5.3% for the shares of peers Castellum, Vallenstam and Fabigia as Europe’s property sector took a hit, down 2.9%.
Shares of major companies exposed to China, such as Hermes International, Pernod Ricard and Kering, fell between 0.9% and 2.7% after weak data on Chinese imports and exports.
Most European stock markets fell, while Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2% after a long weekend.
At the same time, the German company Fresenius Medical Care, which specializes in kidney disease, helped to reduce the losses of the Stoxx 600 index, after announcing a lower than expected drop in its adjusted operating income in the first quarter.
Grifols also rose 9.4%, becoming the index’s biggest gainer after the Spanish drugmaker raised its profit margin forecast for this year, and Banco BBM, Italy’s third-largest bank, rose 7.6% after raising profit targets.
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