European Countries Ban Short-Selling

France and 3 other European countries (Italy, Spain, Belgium) ban short-selling on banking and financial stocks. French financial authority banned short-selling of 15 stocks for 15 days starting from August 12th. The stocks included on the list are Axa, April Group, BNP Paribas, CIC, CNP Assurances, Natixis, Scor, Euler Hermes, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale.

The decision came after the rumors over the fragility of the French bank Societe Generale and the fears over France’s credit rating had caused huge drops in European stock exchange markets. Spain banned short-selling on 16 stocks including the banks like Santander, Banco Popular, BBVA, Sabadell, Bankinter, and Banca Civica.

4 stocks which are on the ban list in Belgium are KBC, Ancora, Dexia et Aegas. For now, the duration of the ban in Belgium is not known.

The French economy stagnates:
According to L’INSEE (French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies) French economy performed zero growth in the second quarter of 2011. The French GDP growth halted in the second quarter after having a 0.9% increase in the first quarter. It seems to be difficult to meet the French government’s 2% growth target for 2011 since the president Sarkozy has recently made a solemn pledge to reduce the deficit.

Eurozone crisis meeting scheduled:
President Sarkozy and German Premier minister Angela Merkel will have a eurozone crisis meeting on Tuesday in Paris.