Europe markets fall for a sixth straight session

European equities fell for a sixth straight session yesterday, with energy shares tracking weaker crude oil prices and financial stocks losing ground.Europe’s STOXX 600 fell 0.5%, ending its second month of losses.Spain’s benchmark IBEX index, which has shown resilience during months of political gridlock, fell 0.6% after lawmakers agreed to grant conservative leader Mariano Rajoy a second term as prime minister.“Over the course of last few weeks, it became quite clear that Rajoy was going to get a free run.Also, the Spanish economy has done pretty well even without a stable government and the market has performed relatively better,” said Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank.“Investors are treating Spain like all other markets.When everybody else gets some wobble, then Spain gets it too.”The IBEX is down 4.2% so far this year, outperforming the 7.2% decline in the STOXX 600.Among yesterday’s sector movers, the STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index fell 1.5%, the top decliner, as crude dropped more than $1 a barrel to hit one-months low on doubts about OPEC’s planned production cut and a build in US crude inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub.“We do seem to be in this ongoing situation of oversupply and until we see signs that the situation is turning around, oil and energy stocks will remain under pressure.It’s going to be a theme for the reminder of the year,” Dixon said.Financials also came under pressure after some banks posted disappointing earnings, with the sector index falling 0.7%.Shares in UniCredit, Natixis and Royal Bank of Scotland fell 2.5 to 3.8%.Swiss chemicals company Sika surged 12% to a record high after saying it had won the latest round in a takeover battle with Saint-Gobain, whose shares were down 1%.The blue chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.6% at 6,954.22 points by the close, but up 0.8% for October.Shares in WPP rose 4% and posted their biggest daily gain in four months.WPP, the world’s largest advertising group, reported results in line with expectations.“We are encouraged by the positive nature of this morning’s update and remain fundamentally positive on WPP’s ability to capitalise on a solid medium-term outlook for global advertising spend,” Roddy Davidson, an analyst at Shore Capital Markets, said in a note.However, investors were less optimistic about some forthcoming earnings.The top fallers were Shire, which reports results today, and Next, whose results are due on Wednesday, down 2.8% and 3.2% respectively.The FTSE 100 index posted a fifth month of gains in a row for the first time since early 2013.The index has been buoyed by a rally in banks and mining companies.Banks were boosted by last week’s well-received earnings from Barclays and Lloyds, with the FTSE 350 banking sector hitting its highest level for the year.October saw the FTSE 100 set a record high of 7,129.83 points.A weaker pound has bolstered the index, which has rallied about 10% since Britain voted in June to leave the European Union.The cheaper pound helps the index’s international, dollar-earning firms.