ASML shares advance after earnings; Icap shares decline
By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares snapped a six-session advance on Wednesday, as mining and automotive losses offset earnings-related gains in the technology sector.
After having moved as high as 257.03 earlier in the session, the Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:SXXP 255.92, -0.07, -0.03%) ended nearly unchanged, down only seven points, to 255.92.
"A winning streak of six days is already quite long in a historical context, so investors are likely to look for an excuse to take some profits," said Ad van Tiggelen, strategist at ING Investment Management.
"They got their excuse today in the form of disappointing European industrial-production data on May, as growth was 0.9% versus 1.3% expected, and disappointing weekly U.S. mortgage applications, which fell by 3%," he added. See story on mortgage applications.
Separately, U.S. retail sales fell a larger-than-expected 0.5% in June, government data showed. Wall Street opened on a mixed note but then turned higher.
Miners, sensitive to economic trends, led the pullback in Europe, with Xstrata (UK:XTA 943.70, -11.30, -1.18%) shares down 1.3%, while autos pared some sharp gains made Tuesday after BMW Group lifted its outlook. Shares of BMW (DE:BMW 41.51, -0.34, -0.81%) declined 1.4% as Renault (FR:RNO 35.08, -0.20, -0.57%) gave up 0.6%.
Among the major regional benchmarks, the French CAC-40 index (FR:PX1 3,633, -4.78, -0.13%) dropped 0.1% to 3,632.98 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,254, -17.50, -0.33%) fell 0.3% to 5,253.52. The German DAX index (DX:DAX 6,210, +18.63, +0.30%) , meanwhile, added 0.3% to 6,209.76.
Asian shares ended higher after strong results reported by chip giant Intel Corp. (INTC 21.72, +0.71, +3.36%) late Tuesday.
Intel's results and a better-than-expected second-quarter profit from Netherlands-based ASML (NL:ASML 25.15, +0.75, +3.05%) (ASML 32.22, +0.95, +3.04%) gave European stocks an early boost and technology shares traded firm through the session. Read more on Intel. Read story on ASML.
ASML shares rallied 3.1%, with STMicroelectronics (FR:STM 6.92, +0.16, +2.31%) (STM 8.82, +0.15, +1.73%) moving up 2.3% and Infineon Technology (DE:IFX 5.31, +0.09, +1.73%) adding 2.4%.
Also advancing, London Stock Exchange (UK:LSE 625.00, +20.50, +3.39%) shares rose 3.6%. The firm reported a 1% rise in first-quarter revenue and said its market share of the trading in U.K. stocks improved in June after it lowered transaction fees.
However, shares of interdealer-broker Icap (UK:IAP 415.50, -20.70, -4.75%) dropped 4.6%.
The company announced a 5% rise in quarterly profit and 8% revenue growth but said that trading levels "slowed significantly" in June as customers' risk appetite declined. Read more on Icap, LSE.
Banks were also under pressure, with Societe Generale (FR:GLE 38.64, -0.86, -2.18%) shares sliding 2.2% and BBVA (ES:BBVA 9.78, 0.00, -0.01%) losing 0.7%.
Shares of Credit Suisse (CH:CSGN 45.42, -0.28, -0.61%) (CS 42.98, -0.40, -0.92%) fell 0.6%. German prosecutors searched 13 of the lender's offices as part of a probe into whether bank employees may have helped clients evade taxes. Read more on Credit Suisse.
"Given the risks to the sector, uncertainty regarding pending regulatory reform and that Greek sovereign-debt fears have not fallen away, the sector should arguably be on more of a discount," said Goldman Sachs strategists.
BP (UK:BP. 400.55, -9.80, -2.39%) (BP 36.54, -0.34, -0.93%) shares fell 2.3% with the oil giant taking a go-slow approach in how it's conducting a pressure integrity test of the Macondo well, which has been spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three months.
A bigger decliner, shares of ITV (UK:ITV 52.35, -2.15, -3.95%) fell 3.9%. Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded to underperform from neutral its rating on the television broadcaster.
The broker said the stock had gotten too expensive, "unless ITV adopts a subscription model, given macro uncertainty and ongoing structural pressures."
