LONDON -- European stocks have started the week on the back foot Monday, seeing a fourth consecutive day of losses and taking direction from the Asian markets overnight after Japan posted weaker-than-expected machinery orders numbers. Concerns over economic growth prospects continue to linger following Friday's disappointing nonfarm payroll numbers, and early premarket trade has the S&P 500
Even with these losses, however, there are a number of names underperforming to an even greater extent today. Here are three American depository receipts the S&P is set to beat today.
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
The Spanish bank is seeing heavy losses this morning, down more than 4.5% as broader weakness in the sector was exacerbated when the country's 10-year bond yield reached almost 7.1%. The 7% threshold is widely seen as unsustainable, being the level that prompted full bailouts for Ireland, Greece, and Portugal.
Today's losses come after the company announced Friday that its Chilean unit plans to sell as many as 2 billion pesos in long-term debt, which Standard and Poor's rates an "mxAAA" -- the highest on a national scale.
Aviva
The British insurer is seeing selling pressure push its shares down more than1.6% today, predominantly due to short-term profit-taking following last week's rally.
News that the company was selling a stake in Dutch firm Delta Lloyd pushed Aviva's share price 3% higher on Friday, up almost 5% for the week as investor demand caused the company to increase its initial sale of 25 million shares to 37 million.
Veolia Environnement
The French utility provider is continuing to lose ground today, following the announcement last week by Prime Minister Ayrault that the government will be fixing utility prices at "progressive" levels.
Veolia also announced toward the end of last week that it will buy a majority stake in a Chinese environmental services firm. The Chinese firm won a 25-year contract to process hazardous waste in the province of Hunan, with revenue from the contract expected to total around 320 million euros over its life.
As usual, this morning's European trading saw some stocks lose ground -- and perhaps provide some European buying opportunities. Indeed, legendary investor Warren Buffett has recently spent more than $1 billion buying a European large-cap stock that's currently trading well below its 2012 high. If you want to know what Buffett has bought within Europe, this special Motley Fool report -- "The One European Share Warren Buffett Loves" -- reveals everything, including the price he paid. You can download the report today for free. But hurry -- the report is available for a limited time only.
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