European banks were plunging on the stock market on Wednesday March 15 at midday, weighed down by uncertainties around Credit Suisse: − 10.26% at midday for BNP Paribas, − 9.89% for Société Générale , − 6.54% for Crédit Agricole, − 6.66% for Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, − 7.27% for UniCredit in Milan, etc.
The European stock markets fell at midday: Paris fell by 3.25%, London by 2.34%, Frankfurt by 2.61% and Milan by 3.61%.
The first explanation is the rout of Credit Suisse, the second Swiss bank, which lost up to 23.6% on Wednesday, reaching a new historic low point at 1.707 Swiss francs, after the declarations of its first shareholder excluding participation in a possible capital increase.
The crisis at Credit Suisse, which is unable to regain investor confidence after a series of scandals and the launch of a major restructuring, is rekindling fears for the entire sector.
In addition, the rating agency Moody’s lowered its outlook on sector ratings in the United States after the bankruptcy of Sillicon Valley Bank and Signature in recent days.
Weighed down by falling stock market values, the euro and other major European currencies took a nosedive against the dollar. The risk weighing on the banking sector, on the eve of a meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB), caused the euro to lose 1.24%, to 1.0599 dollars around 12:25 p.m. in Paris, while the Swiss franc lost 1.22% to 0.9255 Swiss francs to the dollar.