European stocks resumed their retreat, sending the Stoxx Europe 600 Index lower for the sixth time in seven days, as CRH Plc led a selloff in construction companies. Asian shares and U.S. index futures declined. CRH tumbled by the most in more than a year after first- half earnings and sales fell more than previously forecast. Rio Tinto Group paced a retreat in mining companies as base metals dropped in London. Marks & Spencer Group Plc lost 2.2 percent as the retailer said it was “cautious” about the outlook for consumer spending. The benchmark Stoxx 600 slid 1 percent to 240.37 at 9:33 a.m. in London, paring yesterday’s 2.6 percent surge. The measure has fallen 12 percent from this year’s high in April amid speculation the global economy recovery is slowing. The drop has left the gauge trading at 11 times estimated earnings, near the lowest valuation in more than a year. “CRH today adds to a feeling of nervousness in the market,,” said Henk Potts at Barclays Stockbrokers in London, which oversees about $218 billion. “Investors are reacting to data points on a day-to-day basis and that is going to continue until we get to the heart of the second-quarter reporting season.” Asian, U.S. Shares The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.6 percent today after yesterday’s report showing U.S. service industries expanded less than forecast added to concern global growth is faltering. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.4 percent after the benchmark gauge for U.S. equities yesterday rebounded from a 10-month low. A report today may show growth in German factory orders slowed. Orders rose 0.3 percent in May from the prior month, when they expanded 2.8 percent, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 30 economists. The Economy Ministry data is due at 12 p.m. in Berlin. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said the U.S. should have a “kitchen-sink strategy” that uses all fiscal and monetary policies possible to prevent the economy from sliding back into a recession. “We are looking at what could be a very long siege here,” Krugman said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday. “We really are at a stage where we should have a kitchen-sink strategy. We should be throwing everything we can get at this.” CRH Plunges CRH sank 8.3 percent to 15.70 euros, leading a gauge of construction shares to the biggest drop in the Stoxx 600. The world’s second-largest maker and distributor of building materials said first-half earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization probably fell about 20 percent, with sales slipping 10 percent. CRH in May predicted earnings would decline by a “high-teen” percentage. Holcim Ltd., the world’s second-biggest cement maker, slid 2.7 percent to 69.25 Swiss francs. HeidelbergCement AG, the third-largest, dropped 4.5 percent to 37.21 euros. Rio Tinto, the world’s third-biggest mining company, retreated 2.1 percent to 2,986.5 pence as a measure of basic- resources producers slid 2 percent. Antofagasta Plc fell 2.2 percent to 800.5 pence and Xstrata Plc slipped 2.1 percent to 887.1 pence. Copper declined for the first time in four days as the dollar rose from a six-week low against the euro, paring demand for industrial metals. Tin, zinc and lead also fell in London. Marks & Spencer slipped 2.2 percent to 345 pence even as the U.K.’s largest clothing retailer reported first-quarter sales growth of 3.6 percent, beating analyst estimates. A proposed increase in U.K. value-added tax and other measures to curb the country’s budget deficit are likely to dampen consumer confidence, the London-based company said. Hexagon AB rallied 7.1 percent to 108.6 kronor. The world’s biggest maker of measuring instruments agreed to buy U.S.-based Intergraph Corp. for $2.13 billion to add software that helps companies visualize complex data and design factories, ships and oilrigs. To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.

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