Banks drive European equities lower Crédit Agricole led European equity markets lower on Friday after posting a wider than expected net loss following the sale of its Greek banking unit. The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 index fell 0.3 per cent to 1,094.55, its third successive loss since President Barack Obama's US election win catalysed a global equity market sell off. Over the week so far, the index has fallen 1.9 per cent, its largest weekly fall since September. Investors appeared to refocus on the miserable state of the eurozone economy, while the rising proportion of corporate earnings failing to match market expectations indicated that valuations may have become stretched following the recent equity rally. French lender Crédit Agricole led a long list of financial services groups lower on the final day of a memorable week. Its stock shed 6.2 per cent to €5.54 after posting a €2.85bn loss in the third quarter as it paid heavily to terminate operations in Greece and booked losses on the valuation of other assets. The company, which incurred €1.96bn in charges on the sale of Greek unit Emporiki Bank and €181m on the divestment of its Cheuvreux broking unit, added that offers for its 20 per cent stake in Italy's Bankinter had been disappointing. A poor week for banks left Crédit Agricole's shares down 7.7 per cent over the five sessions, but there were worse performances elsewhere during the week after many of Europe's biggest lenders reported a poor third quarter. Crédit Agricole is not alone on the divestment trail, as many banks have either refocused on core domestic operations, or have hived off investment banking from retail operations. This effort to cut costs and restructure has made comparisons with previous years" profit statements difficult. Commerzbank was down nearly 12 per cent over the week to €1.34. On Thursday, the German lender said it was unlikely to pay a dividend until 2014 and that it did not expect profit from its retail unit next year. On Friday brokers at Nomura cut Commerzbank's target price from €1.30 to €1.20 and held its "reduce" rating. Domestic rival Deutsche Bank also had a tough week, falling 7 per cent to €33.10 over the five sessions, while top Spanish banks BBVA and Santander fell 8.5 per cent to €5.95 and 7.7 per cent to €5.40 respectively. Irish airline Ryanair made the best weekly performance, up 8.5 per cent to €4.93, after it raised its full-year targets on Monday. The company defied subdued consumer confidence and weak global growth to post 15 per cent growth in third-quarter revenues. Novo Nordisk, the Danish drugmaker had a turbulent week, falling nearly 7 per cent on Tuesday after the US Food and Drug Administration said the company's long-acting insulin drug Degludec carried a higher heart safety risk than other similar diabetes treatments. However, the shares bounced back 7.7 per cent to DKr931.50 on Friday after the FDA recommended approval of the drug. Over the week, the shares were up 1.3 per cent. Reinsurers outperformed other financial sectors after all three Eurofirst groups - Hannover Re, Swiss Re and Munich Re - reported forecast-beating third quarters and predicted limited impact from storm damage caused by hurricane Sandy in the US. Over the week, Hannover gained 3.6 per cent to €55.19, while Swiss added 2.8 per cent to SFr66.05 and Munich rose 1.1 per cent to €125.45.