LONDON: European stocks slumped and the euro hit a near two-month low versus the dollar Tuesday as markets assessed the fallout of Italy's political impasse after elections in the indebted eurozone country.
Milan's FTSE MIB index shed 3.84 percent to 15,724.60 points in late morning deals, with a stalemate in Italy's parliament after a critical vote in which the real winner may be a protest party calling for a referendum on the euro.
Elsewhere, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 1.16 percent to 6,281.44 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 retreated 1.66 percent to 7,644.20 points and in Paris the CAC 40 slid 1.78 percent to 3,655.13, as shares in European banks tumbled.
Madrid's IBEX 35 index dived 2.21 percent on fresh fears of eurozone instability, traders said.
"Share markets and bank stocks in Europe are sliding as investor sentiment is rattled by the political impasse in the Italian elections," said Ishaq Siddiqi, market strategist at ETX Capital trading group.
In foreign exchange deals, the euro hit an intra-day low of $1.3018 -- the lowest point since January 7 -- before recovering to $1.3081 in mid-morning London deals.
"Political uncertainty has increased in Italy following the election results weighing upon the euro and risk assets," said Lee Hardman, currency analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in London.
"The election results send a strong signal for change from the electorate who have voted against the traditional political establishment, and the fiscal austerity programme endorsed by Europe.
"A period of prolonged political uncertainty in Italy poses downside risks for the euro in the near-term although unstable politics in Italy is not exactly a new phenomenon which with time the market may become more comfortable with as the ECB is still standing behind the debt market," Hardman added.
Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani and his leftist coalition scraped a razor-thin victory in the lower chamber of parliament. They won just 29.55 percent to 29.18 percent for Silvio Berlusconi, with 99.9 percent of the ballots counted.
The victor's bonus will give the left a handy majority in the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies.
But in the 305-seat Senate, preliminary results from the interior ministry showed Berlusconi's coalition could win 110 seats to the left's 97 seats, with neither group winning a majority.
A majority in both chambers of parliament is required to form a government, leaving Italy in a state of limbo with a hung parliament that is unprecedented in its post-war history.
"With the Italian elections delivering the worst possible outcome for investors, equity markets have reacted swiftly and severely -- giving up yesterday's gains and more," Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said in a note to clients.
"The risks in Europe remain significant and we are likely to see increased volatility in the weeks ahead," she added.
Financial stocks pushed indices lower, with Italy's biggest bank Unicredit tumbling 7.26 percent to 3.87 euros, France's Societe Generale losing 4.59 percent to 28.45 euros, Deutsche Bank shedding 4.13 percent to 34.69 euros and Barclays in non-eurozone member Britain giving up 3.10 percent to 301.98 pence.
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