By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks slipped Wednesday, with
LM Ericsson AB among the decliners pulling the region's benchmark
index back from its hefty gain in the previous session.
The Stoxx Europe 600 shed 0.2% to 336.37, handing back a small
portion of its 1.4% jump on Tuesday, which was led by a rally in
drug makers.
Struggling on Wednesday were shares of Ericsson , falling 4.9%
after the Swedish mobile-network company posted an unexpectedly
sharp decline in quarterly revenue to 47.51 billion Swedish kronor
($7.21 billion), from 52.03 billion kronor a year earlier. That
missed a consensus projection from analysts of 50.80 billion
kronor. ARM Holdings PLC shares were down as well, off 2.1% as the
computer-chip designer was unable to gain traction after reporting
a rise in first-quarter profit.
But limiting the Stoxx 600's loss was an 8.6% leap in Associated
British Foods PLC shares, as strength from its Primark retail chain
and grocery units aided in a rise in half-year profit. The company
said it plans to open Primark stores in the north-east of the
U.S.
European benchmark indexes remained lower after a
better-than-expected reading for euro-zone manufacturing activity
in April. An initial reading of Markit's manufacturing Purchasing
Managers' Index came in at 53.3, a three-month high that surpassed
expectations for a 53.0 reading. The manufacturing PMI figure in
March was 53.0.
Ahead of that, Markit's preliminary Purchasing Manager's Index
for France showed a slowdown in both manufacturing and services
activity in April. But services and manufacturing activity in
Germany each rose this month, leaving the preliminary composite PMI
at 56.3, up from 54.3 in March.
Germany's DAX 30 lost 0.1% to 9,591.19, and France's CAC 40
declined 0.3% to 4,469.73.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was higher by 2 points at 6,683.14.
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