By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets were on track to
break a five-day winning streak on Thursday, after data showing the
euro zone exited recession sent the region's benchmark index to a
more-than-two-month high in the prior day's trade.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index slid 0.5% to 306.94. On Wednesday,
the index closed at the highest level since May 22, setting it just
0.6% shy of its 52-week high.
Drug makers added the most pressure on the benchmark after a
round of ratings changes. Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) lost 2%
after Morgan Stanley cut the pharma firm to underweight from equal
weight. GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) got the same treatment, its
shared dropping 0.5%.
Among other notable decliners, shares of Zurich Insurance Group
AG lost 3.1% after the company reported a 27% decline in
second-quarter income. The firm said the flooding in Eastern and
Central Europe, and U.S. tornadoes weighed on earnings.
Hennes & Mauritz AB gave up 0.9% after the Swedish fashion
retailer posted a 1% fall in comparable sales in July.
The overall negative sentiment in Europe came on the back of
weak trading sessions in Asia and the U.S., with worries about the
timing and pace of potential reductions in the U.S. Federal
Reserve's bond purchases upsetting the markets.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street.
In Europe, most country-specific indexes also declined, a day
after investors celebrated the end of the six-quarter-long
recession for the euro zone. Data showed on Wednesday that the
currency bloc's economy grew 0.3% in the second quarter, a notch
better than expected, fueling hopes of a recovery. Read: Euro-zone
GDP: Time to pop the champagne?
Germany's DAX 30 index fell 0.5% to 8,396.80 on Thursday, while
France's CAC 40 index slipped 0.2% to 4,106.74.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index dropped 0.4% to 6,559.94.
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