Bayer stock fell more than 10% on Monday, representing a loss of more than $10 billion in market cap, on the first day of trading after a California jury found that the German company owed $289.2 million to a man who claims to have gotten cancer from exposure to Roundup weed killer.
The bottom line: Bayer might have taken on a bigger liability than it realized in buying Roundup maker Monsanto, via a $64 billion merger that closed this past June, as this could be just the first of thousands of similar lawsuits.
The MSCI world equity index, which tracks markets in 47 countries, is down 1.7% since Friday as the Turkish lira hit another record low against the dollar Monday morning, prompting fears of contagion to other currencies, reports Reuters.
The big picture: Turkey's central bank vowed to take "all necessary measures" to stabilize the lira, but investors have not been reassured. The euro hit a 13-month low against the dollar, while emerging market currencies like South Africa's rand (down 2.7%) and Mexico's peso (down 1.9%) have also suffered.
