European Shares At Three-month Low

(RTTNews) - European stocks extended losses for a fifth consecutive session to hit a fresh three-month low on Tuesday, as banks and commodity-related stocks continued to feel the pinch ahead of key central bank meetings and next week's referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union.

Two ICM polls, one online and one conducted by telephone, showed on Monday that Britain appears poised to leave the European Union with just over a week to go before referendum day.

The British pound hovered near a two-month low and yields on the 10-year government debt of Germany dipped below zero for the first time ever, reflecting growing anxiety over the prospect of the U.K. exiting the EU.

With risk appetite waning, investors paid little attention to Eurostat figures, which showed that Eurozone industrial output rose for the first time in three months during April, aided by a surge in the output of durable consumer goods.

Another official report showed that U.K. inflation remained stable at 0.3 percent in May as rising transport costs were offset by falls in the prices of clothing and food.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 1.2 percent in midday trading after losing 1.8 percent in the previous session.

The German DAX was down 67 points or 0.70 percent at 9,589 after hitting as low 9,510 earlier in the session.

France's CAC 40 index was losing 1.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 1.3 percent at 5,969, a fresh three-month low.

Banks led decliners, with Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale Group and Barclays falling 1-3 percent.

Miners Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Glencore dropped 2-3 percent while energy giants Total SA, BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell fell 1-2 percent.

Swiss asset manager GAM Holding slumped 17 percent after warning its profit would probably fall by half in first-half, mainly due to lower performance fees.

Embattled electronics maker Premier Farnell soared 50 percent in London after Swiss-based Datwyler Holding agreed to buy the company for 165 pence in cash per share.