After a start with gains close to 1%, European stock markets reversed their upward trend and are now falling, showing signs that investors remain concerned about instability in the banking sector. Lisbon's main index, which rose 0.54% at opening, recorded the worst performance among its peers, dropping 1.69%.


By 1:18 pm, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.84%, the French CAC-40 was down 1.09% and the British FTSE 100 was down 0.7%. The Frankfurt square also loses almost 1%, and the Spanish square depreciates by 1.16%.


There is only one listed on the PSI index in positive territory, while Sonae and CTT stand out in losses, in a week in which both companies presented their annual accounts for the past year. BCP, the only bank listed on the PSI, is retreating 2.02% to 18.89 cents per share, accumulating losses of over 15% in the last five days.


Already the owner of Continente sinks 7.53%, a day after announcing profits of 342 million euros, 27.7% above the registered in the previous year. And CTT, which presented annual accounts after the close of the previous session, are trading down 4.86%. Correios registered a net result of 36.4 million euros in 2022 , which represents a drop of 5.2% compared to 2021.


In international banking, Credit Suisse shares are falling by almost 12%, to 1.79 francs, after, on Wednesday, having experienced its most difficult day on the stock exchange, losing a quarter of its value. The bank had entered this Friday's session rising more than 1%.


The last few days have investors worried about the possibility of a global financial crisis. The trigger was the failure of Silicon Valley Bank last Friday, followed by the collapse of Signature on Sunday. The turbulence gained expression and was supported by financial markets in Europe, particularly in the banking sector.


Despite this, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to raise interest rates again by 50 basis points on Thursday. The institution led by Christine Lagarde sought to reassure investors and bank customers, assuring that “the banking sector in the euro area is resilient, with strong capital and liquidity positions”. But, for now, investors seem to fear a repeat of 2008.