Author: Elena Todorova
123jump.com
Last Update: 12:30 PM EDT August 03 2006

European markets closed deeply in the red, reflecting an unexpected interest-rate hike by the Bank of England, weakness among food and oil stocks, as well as negative sentiment on Wall Street. The leading decliner across the region was London FTSE 100, falling 1.6%, followed by the French CAC 40, down 0.9%, and the German DAX 300, down 0.7%.