Europe shares fall, track U.S. after Bear deal

European
shares fell, tracking U.S.
stock indexes after JPMorgan said it and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York would provide
financing for Bear Stearns.

JPMorgan said
along with the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York, agreed to provide secured funding to Bear
Stearns, as necessary, for up to 28 days. The Fed, through its discount window,
will provide non-recourse, back-to-back financing to JPMorgan, the commercial
bank said. JPMorgan said it does not believe this transaction exposes its
shareholders to any material risk.

JPMorgan also
said it is working with Bear Stearns on securing permanent financing or other
alternatives for the company.

The
FTSEurofirst 300 of top European shares was down 1.1% at 1,254.91 points late
in the afternoon.

In major
European stock markets, London’s FTSE was down
by 1.20% at  5624.00 points, Frankfurt’s
DAX down by 1.01% at 6434.99 points while Paris’s
CAC40 was also down by 1.19% at 4574.91 points.

The Dow
Jones shed 2.2%, while the S&P 500 lost 2.7% and the Nasdaq Index falls 1.9%.