FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Concerns about an earlier-than-usual hurricane season weighed heavily on the shares of European insurers on Tuesday. The sector index Stoxx Europe 600 Insurance fell sharply and only came to a halt at the 100-day line, which signals the medium-term trend. Hurricane 'Beryl' had picked up speed and strength unusually early in the storm season in the south-east of the Caribbean and caused extensive claims costs, particularly for reinsurers.

The sector index recently fell by 2.1% to around 370 points, making insurers the weakest sector on the table. The 100-day line currently stands at 369.40 points. Among the individual stocks, Munich Re and Hannover Re were at the bottom of the Dax with losses of up to 4.7 percent, while Allianz lost just under 2 percent.

In Zurich, Swiss Re at the bottom of the SMI lost just under 5 percent, while in Paris the shares of Scor lost 3 percent. With regard to Zurich, which fell by 1.7 percent, one trader drew attention to a commentary by Citigroup, whose analyst James Shuck is concerned about its US business and expects headwinds for the Swiss group there.

"The hurricane season, which has already begun, is also blowing strongly in the face of European insurance stocks," commented market expert Andreas Lipkow. "Hurricane Beryl is brewing as a real potential major loss generator."

Equity expert Frederik Altmann from Alpha Wertpapierhandel takes a similar view: "Concerns about increasingly severe natural disasters are weighing on insurers." However, there are also technical factors, as most investors have accumulated particularly high book profits on these securities. "Some investors are therefore apparently using the discussion about the high costs of natural catastrophes to sell." In the case of Munich Re, for example, some stop-loss orders were probably placed at 450 euros, where the share price had reached its low a month ago, in order to prevent higher price losses.

Hurricane Beryl has already caused severe damage in the south-east of the Caribbean and has now been upgraded to the highest category 5 of dangerous hurricanes. This makes it the strongest hurricane ever to form so early in the season in the Atlantic. Meteorologists are warning of further very strong storms in the coming months due to the warm ocean waters. Experts at Colorado State University in the USA expect the Atlantic hurricane season to be particularly active this year with the transition of the El Niño to La Niña weather event and to exceed the average values of the last three decades./ck/bek/he