Steel stocks lost their gleam in Europe as fears about slowing demand for cars tarnished the whole sector.

The A-shares of Sweden’s SSAB plunged 18.4 per cent over the week to SKr162, ArcelorMittal tumbled by 15.9 per cent to €53.58, while steel tubemaker Vallourec slid 12.9 per cent to €191.5 after Merrill Lynch put out a note this week, saying that “bankruptcy is not impossible” for General Motors.