European markets are on a retreat today, with Spanish stocks leading the way south after Catalonia officials reiterated their pledge to declare independence in coming days.
The IBEX-35 index slipped 2% at 10,049.30, trading around its lowest level since March. Drugmaker Oryzon Genomics SA is the first listed company to officially report that it is moving out of Catalonia following the independence referendum in the region that has pushed Spain into political chaos.
Some other companies might be considering doing the same. Oryzon shares soared close to 33 % after it announced it would move to Madrid from Barcelona. Shares of Banco de Sabadell SA dropped 4.7%, CaixaBank SA CABK, -6.32% lost 4.6%, Bankia SA rallied 3.3% and BBVA SA sank 2.6%.
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The European Commission ruled last year that the Irish government had granted illegal aid to Apple by helping the iPhone maker keep its tax bill artificially low for more than 20 years. Dublin has since accused the EU of meddling with its sovereignty. This came by Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s competition commissioner, came as regulators ordered Luxembourg to collect around 250 million euros, or about $293 million, in unpaid taxes from Amazon, the online retail behemoth.
