European Stocks Sag Amid Deflation Fears

(RTTNews) - European stocks were unable to carry over momentum from the previous session Monday amid fears the euro zone is entering a deflationary spiral.

Germany's producer prices decreased at a faster rate as expected in September, data from Destatis showed. Producer prices fell 1 percent year-over-year in September following the 0.8 percent decrease in August. This was in line with the consensus estimate.

The Eurozone current account surplus declined in August as the surplus on trade in services decreased notably, data from the European Central Bank revealed. The current account surplus fell to a seasonally adjusted 18.9 billion euros in August from 21.6 billion euros in July.

Markets are fretting the European Central Bank's reluctance to step up support measures to jump start the region's economy.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks fell 1.2 percent, and is down 3.49 percent year-to-date.

The German DAX was down 1.5 percent, the French CAC 40 slipped 1.04 percent and the FTSE 100 index of the U.K. eased 0.68 percent.

In Frankfurt, SAP plunged 5.6 percent after slashing its full year profit forecast.

ThyssenKrupp lost 1.85 percent. Goldman Sachs reinitiated the stock with a "Neutral" rating.

Bucking the trend, Adidas rose 5 percent. A consortium of investors is planning to float a $2.2 billion bid for the company's Reebok business unit, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

In Paris, Gemalto battled back from steep early losses to finish flat after Apple unveiled a SIM card for its new iPads.

UK media company British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc. will own almost 70 percent of Sky Deutschland after a number of the German company's minority shareholders a accepted the terms of a takeover offer. BSkyB shares rose 0.65 percent.