European stocks close:

European stocks dropped the most in a week as Italy failed to meet its maximum target at a debt sale, Spain struggled to bolster its banking system and a Greek poll showed increased support for parties opposed to spending cuts.

Italian bonds fell for a fourth day, the longest stretch of losses in more than a month. The nation’s borrowing costs rose at an auction today as it sold 5.73 billion euros ($7.1 billion) of five-year and 10-year securities, short of its maximum target of 6.25 billion euros.

In Greece, a VPRC opinion poll for Epikaira magazine showed that anti-austerity group Syriza had the support of 30 percent of voters, compared with 26.5 percent for New Democracy, which backs the terms of a European Union bailout. Greece holds new elections on June 17.

National benchmark indexes slipped all the 18 western European markets. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.7 percent and Germany’s DAX fell 1.8 percent, while France’s CAC 40 (CAC) slid 2.2 percent. Greece’s ASE Index slumped 3.2 percent.

BASF dropped 2 percent to 56.79 euros after Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung cited Deputy Chief Executive Officer Martin Brudermueller as saying the company isn’t seeing the kind of dynamism it expected in Asia. BASF is considering taking a partner in India, where a backlog of policy changes is holding back growth, the official said.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto declined 2.5 percent to 1,707.5 pence and 4.1 percent to 2,801 pence, respectively. Copper fell for a second day, poised for the biggest monthly drop since September.

Fiat Industrial SpA, the truck and tractor manufacturer that Italian carmaker Fiat SpA spun off in 2011, gained 1 percent to 7.97 euros after saying it will merge with tractor unit CNH Global and move its primary listing to New York.