Stocks across Europe sharply lower at close

A broker at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, on February 8, 2016

Stocks across Europe were sharply lower at the close on Monday in a global rout prompted by banking sector worries, the Chinese economic slowdown and slumping oil prices. The Paris exchange closed 3.2 percent down, Frankfurt lost 3.3 percent and London slumped 2.7 percent, with some smaller stock markets hit much harder still, including Milan, down 4.7 percent, and Athens, 7.9 percent lower.