By Tommy Stubbington and Josie Cox
Stocks in Europe stumbled Thursday on a set of disappointing
corporate earnings.
The Stoxx Europe 600 ended the session 0.5% lower. The
pan-European index had opened the day higher after an early morning
vote in Greece's Parliament approved a second batch of economic
overhauls demanded by creditors, but that optimism proved
short-lived.
Daily Mail & General Trust PLC led losses. Shares in the
U.K.-based media company tumbled almost 8.5% after it warned that
its full-year results would be at the lower end of
expectations.
Shares in Aberdeen Asset Management PLC also took a beating,
falling 7.6% after the investment firm reported a 7% fall in
quarterly assets under management. Paul McGinnis, an analyst at
brokerage Shore Capital, wrote in a note to clients that the
outflows were worrying and that he would review his current hold
recommendation on the stock.
Elsewhere, recent weakness in commodity prices dragged down
energy and mining shares, with the subindex of oil and gas stocks
falling 1.4%. Basic resources ended the day 2.1% lower.
Brent crude was trading broadly flat at the European stock
market close, at around $56.14 per barrel. Since the start of the
month, however, it is down close to 12%.
Dominick Chirichella, an analyst at research consultancy Energy
Management Institute, wrote in a note to clients that the global
oil market has yet to stabilize and rebalance and it doesn't look
like it will do so any time soon.
Technology stocks pared the previous session's losses, which
were triggered by some disappointing earnings from Apple Inc.
Germany's DAX index ended the day 0.1% lower, France's CAC-40
rose 0.1% and London's FTSE 100 fell 0.2%.
In currency markets, the euro was 0.5% higher against the dollar
at $1.0978. Analysts said there was no specific catalyst for the
move, which reverses part of the common currency's decline last
week.
The British pound gave up its early gains against the dollar to
fall 0.5% to $1.5527 following disappointing U.K. retail sales
data.
Write to Tommy Stubbington at tommy.stubbington@wsj.com
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