By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks moved lower Wednesday,
taking a breather after a six-session run of gains that have pushed
the benchmark index to a seven-year high.
The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.2% to 386.59, with the energy,
consumer goods, financial and telecom sectors all logging losses.
The pan-European benchmark on Tuesday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-waver-as-greek-reforms-go-before-lenders-for-approval-2015-02-24)
finished up 0.6% at 387.25, marking the highest close since October
2007.
European stocks on Tuesday pushed higher during afternoon trade
after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen indicated the
central bank wasn't in a rush to raise interest rates. As well,
equities climbed as Greece moved closer to finalizing an extension
of its bailout agreement.
Despite their recent rally, stocks in Europe "look alluringly
inexpensive relative to their peers, with the region trading at a
record discount to U.S. stocks on a 5-year through the cycle
[price-earnings] basis since 1970," said Matt Sherwood, head of
investment markets research at Perpetual, in a note late
Tuesday.
On the major indexes, Germany's DAX 30 was off 0.1% at
11,198.90. It closed Tuesday's session with its 16th record closing
high of the year. France's CAC 40 shed 0.1% to 4,883.22.
The U.K.'s fell 0.3% to 6,930.31 (), backing off from Tuesday's
advance, which marked the index's best closing level since December
1999
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-the-ftse-100-closing-at-its-highest-level-in-15-years-means-2015-02-24).
In London, shares of Weir Group PLC tumbled 9.7% after the
energy-engineering firm warned of lower profit margins
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/weir-warns-on-profit-as-commodity-prices-fall-2015-02-25)
and revenue this year as commodity prices have dropped.
Weir shares were the worst performing on both the FTSE 100 and
the Stoxx 600.
Also trading at the bottom of the Stoxx 600 were shares of
Greece's Piraeus Bank SA and National Bank of Greece SA , down by
6.6% and 3.5%, respectively, after surging in the previous
session.
While Greece on Tuesday won approval to extend its EUR240
billion ($273 billion) bailout package from eurozone finance
ministers, German newspaper Rheinische Post reported that some
lawmakers in Germany's parliament may vote against the deal on
Friday. Meanwhile, some of Greece's creditors have raised questions
about the reform proposals Greece has offered in exchange for the
extension. Read: Doubts shadow deal to extend Greek bailout
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/doubts-shadow-deal-to-extend-greek-bailout-2015-02-25).
Greece's Athex Composite shed 0.2% to 936.30, after leaping 9.8%
on Tuesday.
In Russia, the Micex index fell 1.9% to 1,738.46. Russia's
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said there are many in Russia
who want to break a cease-fire agreement with Ukraine, according to
Russian media reports.
Advancers on the Stoxx 600 included A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S ,
rising 7% after the Danish conglomerate said it's selling a 20.05%
stake in Danske Bank A/S
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/maersk-full-year-profit-falls-short-of-consensus-2015-02-25).
Maersk will return the money raised from the stake sale to
shareholders. Maersk on Wednesday also posted a 2014 profit of
$5.02 billion, which fell slightly short of market
expectations.
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