Commodities

LONDON (ShareCast) - Commodities and banks are dragging Europe's leading markets lower in midday trade as investors remain cautious about the state of the economy.

Energy firms Royal Dutch Shell (Amsterdam: RDSA.AS - news) and Eni (Milan: ENI.MI - news) dropped after US crude oil futures fell again but remained above the $70 a barrel mark ahead of weekly US inventory data.

Among the banks, Commerzbank (Xetra: 803200 - news) , Deutsche Bank (Xetra: 514000 - news) , BNP Paribas (Paris: FR0000131104 - news) and Societe Generale (Paris: FR0000130809 - news) are all lower.

Meanwhile, defensive stocks are in demand, including telecoms such as Deutsche Telekom (Xetra: 555750 - news) and pharma giant Sanofi (Paris: FR0000120578 - news) -Aventis.

Across the markets, the German DAX is down 58 points at 4,832 with the French CAC falling 22 points at 3,191. The Swiss market is down 34 points to 5,342.

Swedish steel maker SSAB (Stockholm: SSAB-A.ST - news) said it expects an operating loss of more than 1bn crowns in the first six months of the year due to the "severe weakness" in the steel market.

In economic news, the eurozone's trade surplus stood at €2.7bn in April compared with a revised surplus of €1.8bn in March, according to figures from European Union statistics office Eurostat.

CAC 40 (Paris: news) - Risers EADS (Paris: NL0000235190 - news) (EAD) € 11.40 +2.24% Vivendi (Paris: FR0000127771 - news) (VIV) € 17.41 +2.14% Sanofi-Aventis (SAN) € 47.29 +2.05% Carrefour (CA) € 29.34 +1.58% L'Oreal (Paris: FR0000120321 - news) (OR) € 53.92 +1.41% Essilor International (EI) € 34.42 +1.37% Danone (Paris: FR0000120644 - news) (BN) € 35.10 +0.98% France Telecom (Paris: FR0000133308 - news) (FTE) € 16.01 +0.91% Cap Gemini (Paris: FR0000125338 - news) (CAP) € 25.51 +0.81% Pernod Ricard (Paris: FR0000120693 - news) (RI) € 43.40 +0.49%

CAC 40 - Fallers ArcelorMittal SA (MT) € 22.53 -6.49% Dexia (DEXB) € 5.64 -4.34% Schneider Electric (Paris: FR0000121972 - news) (SU) € 51.45 -4.17% Vallourec (VK) € 86.65 -3.86% Lafarge (Paris: FR0000120537 - news) (LG (003550.KS - news) ) € 46.73 -3.57% Alstom (ALO) € 41.90 -3.43% Michelin (Paris: FR0000121261 - news) (ML) € 41.54 -3.33% Alcatel (Paris: FR0000130007 - news) -Lucent (ALU) € 1.86 -3.27% Saint Gobain (Paris: FR0000125007 - news) (SGO) € 24.57 -3.23% AXA (CS) € 13.14 -3.13%