By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets trimmed losses in
afternoon action on Wednesday after better-than-expected U.S.
housing data calmed worries about the impact from higher mortgages
and bad weather, but most markets still closed in the red with
earnings reports and broker action weighing on several shares.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index , which closed at a six-year high on
Tuesday, fell 0.2% to end at 337.70.
Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA lost 6.5%, after the Portuguese
retailer reported 2013 results that missed analysts forecasts.
Heavyweight Seadrill Ltd. weighed on the main index with a 0.6%
loss after Nomura cut it to neutral from buy. The re-rating came
after Tuesday's results for the offshore driller, which provided a
muted outlook for the deepwater-drilling market in 2014 and said
there would be limited scope to lift its quarterly dividend.
Banks were also among decliners, with Credit Suisse Group AG
(CS) down 2.5% after being criticized by U.S. senators over its
role in tax evasion.
On the upside, shares of Swiss Life Holding AG jumped 6% after
the insurer raised its dividend 22%. It also posted net income for
2013 that beat forecasts of analysts polled by Bloomberg.
More broadly, European stock markets started trimming losses in
afternoon action after data from the U.S. showed new-home sales
jumped 9.6% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
468,000, hitting the highest level since July 2008 and beating
analyst expectations. Economists had expected unusually cold
weather and higher mortgage rates to hit sales of new homes.
U.S. stocks traded higher on Wall Street after the data.
In data news in Europe, the Office for National Statistics said
U.K. gross domestic product rose 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in the
final three months of 2013, unrevised from a preliminary estimate
and in line with expectations. Year-on-year, the economy expanded
by 1.8%, down from the previously estimated 1.9%.
Investors in London largely ignored the data, with the FTSE 100
index staying lower after the report, closing 0.5% lower at
6,799.15.
In Germany, a forward-looking gauge of consumer confidence rose
to a seven-year high in March, suggesting the German economy is
gaining broad-based strength.
The German DAX 30 index , however, tripped 0.4% to 9,661.73,
weighed by Lanxess AG down 2.7%. The chemicals firm said
impairments and restructuring charges drove it to a loss in
2013.
Also in Frankfurt, Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA
declined 1.2% after UBS cut the health-care firm to neutral from
buy.
France's CAC 40 index dropped 0.4% to 4,396.91. Shares of LVMH
Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMUY) gave up 1.6% after Credit
Suisse cut the luxury-goods firm to underperform from neutral. The
analysts said LVMH is likely to underperform its peers in 2014
despite a diversified portfolio of brands with solid market
positions and a strong management team.
Outside the major indexes, drug maker Novo Nordisk AS (NVO)
dropped 1.7% pulling back from a record high reached on Tuesday,
when J.P. Morgan Cazenove lifted the company to overweight from
underweight.
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (AHBIY) climbed 2.8% after the brewer
reported a 47% increase fourth-quarter profit, driven by strong
performance Brazil and cost cutting in Mexico.
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