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Lufthansa, Airbus shares crash on French Alps plane accident

The Airbus A320 jet, on its way from Barcelona to Duesseldorf, came down near a ski resort in the Barcelonnette area in southeastern France, officials said.

"In light of the information available at the present time we cannot say whether there are survivors or how many there might be," Germanwings chief executive, Oliver Wagner, said in a brief statement on German television.

In late morning deals, Lufthansa's share price dived more than four per cent in Frankfurt. The stock stood at 13.42 euros ($14.67) in early afternoon trade, down 2.58 per cent from on Monday and the worst performer on the German stock market.

Airbus shares sank 1.92 per cent to 58.85 euros ($64.43), also making it the heaviest faller in Paris. "Tragically, market movement cannot always been driven by pure stats," said Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex trading group.

"News that a Germanwings plane has crashed in the south of France caused a fall in (the share price of) Lufthansa...alongside Airbus, the plane's manufacturer," he said.

European stock markets however were steady overall.

Frankfurt's benchmark DAX 30 index of top companies was flat at 11,896 points, while the CAC 40 in Paris edged up 0.12 per cent to 5,060.30 points.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares was 0.01 per cent lower at 7,036.70 points. "Very sad news and we have seen airline names drop on the back of this," said Guardian Stockbrokers analyst Atif Latif.

"The Airbus A320 is one of the most popular aircraft and (this incident) will question the safety aspect."

Shares in Air France-KLM were down 0.60 per cent at 7.60 euros ($8.31) in Paris, while British low-cost carrier easyJet fell 0.37 per cent to 1,861 pence.

However, British Airways and Iberia owner International Airlines Group saw its shares climb 2.03 per cent to 604 pence, topping the risers board on the FTSE 100.

Earlier on Tuesday, Europe's main stock markets had fallen in the wake of disappointing Chinese
manufacturing data.
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