By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets nudged lower in
choppy trade on Tuesday, with banks leading the way south, as
encouraging German consumer-confidence data failed to lift
sentiment.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.1% to 288.96, after
snapping a three-day winning streak on Monday.
Shares of William Hill PLC posted one of the biggest gains in
the index, up 2.5%, after the online-betting site said operating
profit for the 14 weeks to Jan. 1 grew by 20%.
Royal Philips Electronics NV (PHG) gained 2.1% after the Dutch
firm said it expects sales to pick up in the second half of the
year.
Pointing in the other direction, shares of Sandvik AB lost 0.8%.
The Swedish engineering group reported fourth-quarter profit, which
was slightly lower than a year ago, and said production rates
declined in a reflection of weaker demand.
Shares of Sanofi SA (SNY) lost 1.1% as Barclays cut the French
drug maker to equal weight from overweight. The bank also
downgraded Germany's Bayer AG to underweight from equal weight,
sending its shares 2.1% lower.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK), up 0.7%, was lifted to overweight
from equal weight.
Elsewhere, European stock markets were broadly negative, keying
off a downbeat session on Wall Street Monday, when the S&P 500
index (SPX) broke an eight-session winning streak. U.S. stock
futures also pointed to a lower open on Tuesday, as a two-day
Federal Reserve meeting was due to get under way.
Closer to home, data from Germany showed consumers became more
confident at the start of 2013. The GfK consumer-climate study
improved to a 5.8-points forecast for February, up from 5.7 points
in January and better than expected by analysts.
The report, however, wasn't enough to cheer investors. The
German DAX 30 index lost 0.3% to 7,813.17, with shares of Deutsche
Bank AG (DB) off 1.4%.
In France, the CAC 40 index gave up 0.3% to 3,770.86. Shares of
Credit Agricole SA slumped 3.4%, Société Générale SA dropped 2.6%
and BNP Paribas SA lost 1.3%.
Shares of oil group Total SA (TOT) gained 1%, as oil prices
climbed hovered around the flat line.
Oil firms were also on the rise in the U.K., with shares of BP
PLC (BP) adding 0.8% and Royal Dutch Shell PLC up 0.3%.
The FTSE 100 index , however, traded 0.1% lower at 6,290.77.
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