United States technology company Apple is now worth as much as the 32 biggest eurozone banks.
That’s the stark result from a steep fall in the share price of banks including Spain’s Santander, France’s BNP Paribas, Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Italy’s Unicredit, compared to a steady rise in Apple’s valuation, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Earlier on Friday the DJ STOXX eurozone banks index fell 4%, valuing its 32 members at $340-billion. That’s based on the market capitalisation of their free-float shares, which for some French banks in particular is less than 100%.
The index has crashed by a third since the start of July, hammered by fears banks will lose billions from their holdings of eurozone government bonds and a failure of policymakers to stop a eurozone debt crisis from spreading.
The eurozone banks have lost three-quarters of their value since peaking in May 2007.
In contrast, Apple’s market capitalisation has soared to $340-billion on the back of the success of innovative technology products like iPods, iPhones and iPads. — Reuters