Europe Stocks Fall to 15-Month Low as Oil, Results Stoke Concern
- Zurich Insurance drags peer group lower after forecast
- Shell warns fourth-quarter profit to fall at least 42 percent
Every Industry Group Fell on Stoxx Europe 600
European stocks slid to a 15-month low as falling oil prices and results from companies including Zurich Insurance Group AG and Royal Dutch Shell Plc exacerbated investor concern about global growth.
Zurich Insurance slid 11 percent after predicting a second straight quarterly loss for its biggest unit. Shell lost 7.3 percent after saying quarterly profit plunged as the slide in oil prices deepened. Seadrill Ltd. plummeted 29 percent as Bank of America Corp. cut its rating to the equivalent of sell. BHP Billiton Ltd. helped drag a gauge of commodity producers to the worst performance on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, falling 7.4 percent after trimming its full-year iron-ore output forecast. Glencore Plc fell 9.9 percent.