European markets declined substantially on Tuesday after over a week of steady gains.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 1.81 percent to 1,488.92. In Frankfurt, the Dax fell 0.74 percent to 7,430.24.
Madrid’s IBEX was 1.26 percent lower to 14,124.8, while the CAC-40 was down 2.08 percent to 5,474.17.
Banks saw substantial declines, with BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) in the biggest drop on the CAC-40, falling 3.36 percent to €75.86.
Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) dropped 2.88 percent to €116.54, while Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) was 2.81 percent lower to €26.97.
Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) was down 1.7 percent to €90.05, its lowest level in nearly a year.
Other decliners included engineering group Siemens (FWB: SIE; NYSE: SI), which fell 1.91 percent to €88.94 in advance of a meeting between German and US investigators in regard to a corruption probe at the company.
Insurer Axa (Euronext: CS; NYSE: AXA) dropped 3.05 percent to €28.90, while builder Vinci (Euronext: DG) was 2.99 percent lower to €50.32.
Airlines were mixed, with Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) up 0.29 percent to €20.64 but Air France down 3.13 percent to €28.52.
Media group Lagardere (Euronext: MMB) was the only gainer on the CAC-40 as it added 0.8 percent to €57.87.
Utilities were higher in Frankfurt. RWE (FWB: RWE) was up 0.37 percent to €80.65, while Eon was 1.2 percent higher to €119.87 for the biggest gain on the Dax.