By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Germany sells 5-year bond with negative yield
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks fell Wednesday, taking a
breather after a six-session run of gains that had pushed the
benchmark index to a seven-year high.
The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.1% to 386.76, with the energy,
basic materials and consumer goods sectors all logging losses. The
loss broke the benchmark's longest winning streak since late
January. 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.
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.
Indexes: France's CAC 40 shed 0.1% to 4,882.22 while Germany's
DAX 30 swung higher and gained 4.5 points to end at 11,210.27. The
small advance was enough for the index to mark its 17th record
closing high of 2015.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to 6,935.38 (), 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 8.8% 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 fell the most on the FTSE 100 and were among the
worst performers on 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
13% and 11.3%, 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 fell 1.6% to 923.03, after leaping 9.8%
on Tuesday.
In Russia, the Micex index fell 1.4% to 1,746.23. Russia's
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said there are many in Kiev 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 9.5% after the Danish conglomerate said it is selling a 20%
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.
In the fixed-income market, the German government sold five-year
bonds with a negative yield for the first time
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/for-the-first-time-youll-will-have-to-pay-germany-to-own-its-5-year-bund-2015-02-25),
meaning investors will pay to lend money to the country for five
years. The sale comes before the European Central Bank in March
starts purchasing EUR60 billion a month worth of assets in a
program aimed a combating stubbornly low inflation and encouraging
economic growth in the region.
On the currency market, the Ukrainian hryvnia (USDUAH) recovered
from an all-time low against the dollar after Ukraine's central
bank introduced a three-day ban
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/temporary-currency-trading-ban-sends-ukrainian-hryvnia-higher-2015-02-25)
on Ukrainian companies buying foreign currency through the
country's banks. The hryvnia traded at 28 to the dollar, compared
with 32.5 to the dollar, its closing level from Tuesday's
session.
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