By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stocks were in the red on Thursday after a weaker-than-expected report on China's manufacturing activity, which compounded the impact of some hawkishness contained in the minutes of the Federal Reserve's January meeting.

Economic data from the euro zone also hurt the Stoxx Europe 600 index , leaving it still off 0.6% at 332.84, after edging up 0.1% on Wednesday. French consumer prices tumbled, and the weak French economy weighed on euro-zone business activity.

Decliners heavily outweighed gainers, with banks, drugs and mining stocks driving the losses.

Among individual stocks, BAE Systems PLC (BAESY) slumped 8% after the company posted a fall in 2013 net profit and guided lower for 2014 earnings. A day earlier, Germany canceled a multi-billion-euro order for the Eurofighter Typhoon jets, and that overshadowed news about completion of talks to reprice a deal to sell that aircraft to Saudi Arabia.

Randstad Holdings NV slid 8%. The Dutch staffing group said it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter of 2013 and revenue rose 1%, and also expects a gradual recovery to continue.

Shares of packaging company Rexam PLC fell close to 5% after posting a rise in full-year earnings as it won back North American market share, but also saw weakness in Western Europe and South America.

Aegon NV fell over 6% after the Dutch insurer posted a 60% slide in net profit owing to hedging losses.

On the upside, shares of Technip SA leapt 8% after the French oil-services company said it expects operating margin at its key subsea unit of 12% in 2014, down from 13.5% in 2013. The company's board approved a 10% dividend increase.

Setting the stage for European stocks, Asia markets suffered losses across the board after sluggish trade data out of Japan and a contraction in China's manufacturing sector to a seven-month low, based on a preliminary HSBC/Markit "flash" version of its Purchasing Managers' Index.

Though analysts said the data may not represent the full picture for Chinese factories, it nonetheless added to gloom triggered by Wednesday's Fed minutes that showed some members calling for a rise in rise in short-term interest rates as early as mid-2015.

In Europe, Markit data showed business activity in the euro zone lost momentum in February, owing to weakness in France, the region's second-largest economy. The monthly gauge of activity across the manufacturing and services sectors of the 18-nation euro zone, fell to 52.7 in February from 52.9 the previous month.

French consumer prices posted a record fall in January, retreating 0.6% from December, which was more than expected from analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal.

The French CAC 40 was off 0.4% to 4,321.79. Heavyweight Danone SA rose over 2% The company said sales growth would be steady this year as it posted a fall in net profit and operating profit also fell. Veolia Environnement SA shares rose over 1% after announcing a EUR500 million ($685 million) contract to handle waste management in Buenos Aires.

The German DAX 30 index fell 1.3% to 9,537.74, with Bayer AG off 1.6% and BASF SE down 1.7%.

The FTSE 100 index fell 0.3% to 6,777.73.

More stories from MarketWatch:

What's up with Facebook's $16 billion WhatsApp deal

Yellen inherits fractious Fed, minutes show

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

Randstad NV (EU:RAND)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024 Click Here for more Randstad NV Charts.
Randstad NV (EU:RAND)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024 Click Here for more Randstad NV Charts.