Pedestrians leave and enter the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain August 15, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall
January 30, 2018
LONDON (Reuters) – European shares fell back on Tuesday as global markets took a risk-averse turn, with cyclical sectors including mining and financials suffering the sharpest losses.
Europe’s STOXX 600 <.STOXX> dropped 0.6 percent at the open before easing slightly to trade down 0.4 percent, in line with euro zone blue-chips and Germany’s DAX <.GDAXI>.
The falls followed weaker trading sessions in Asia and Wall Street, triggered partly by a slide in Apple <AAPL.O> shares.
The cyclical sectors leading the charge year-to-date were the worst hit as investors took profits after a strong run.
Mining and financial stocks were the biggest weight, with almost all sectors in the red.
Basic resources stocks <.SXPP> sank 1.4 percent, the biggest sectoral fallers as metals prices tumbled, dented by the strengthening dollar. Anglo American <AAL.L> was among the worst-performing.
Banks ING <INGA.AS>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, and insurers AXA <AXAF.PA> and Prudential <PRU.L> were the biggest laggards among financials. Europe’s banks index fell 0.8 percent while financial services stocks dropped 0.7 percent.
Tech stocks <.SX8P> meanwhile outperformed the market, gaining 0.2 percent.
Results drove trading, with investors rewarding Swatch and Alfa Laval while Loomis and Philips disappointed.
Loomis <LOOMb.ST> was bottom of the STOXX, down 8.2 percent after the Swedish support services firm reported fourth-quarter profit missed forecasts.[nFWN1PP06C]
Swatch <UHR.S> was among the top gainers on the index after impressive results. The Swiss watchmaker’s profit rose 28 percent in 2017, and it said it expected ‘very positive’ growth in 2018. [nL8N1PP0TJ]
Swedish engineering group Alfa Laval <ALFA.ST> gained 3 percent after its fourth quarter order intake far exceeded market forecasts. [nL8N1PP17Y]
Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa <SGREN.MC> gained 5 percent after its first-quarter results. [nL8N1PP1KC]
Medical technology firm Philips <PHG.AS> fell back 2 percent, with traders pointing to the firm missing fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations.
M&A also drove trading with shares in British conference organizer UBM <UBM.L> rising 3 percent after Informa <INF.L> sealed its 3.8 billion pound ($5.3 billion) takeover of the firm. [nL8N1PP1A1]
(Reporting by Helen Reid, Editing by Kit Rees)
