Stocks lose ground after recovery optimism fades

Eurostoxx 50:3,031.62 (–10.88) Frankfurt DAX:7,338.42 (+15.18) Paris CAC:4,100.72 (–7.55)

EUROPEAN STOCKS fell after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed yesterday near its highest level since 2008.

The Stoxx 600 fell 0.4 per cent to 287.35 at the close in London. The measure had surged to near the highest level since September 2008 amid optimism that the economic recovery is accelerating and as European governments introduced policies to support indebted countries using the single currency.

“We’ve had months of uninterrupted gains,” Philipp Baertschi, chief strategist at Bank Sarasin in Zurich, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “After that, we’re due for a break. In the short term, sentiment is overly optimistic. The market is due for a correction, but we see it as a buying opportunity.”

Sanofi retreated 1.5 per cent to €50.37. The French drugmaker trying to take over Genzyme said business earnings per share will drop 5 per cent to 10 per cent this year.

Statoil lost 3.2 per cent to 137.7 kroner. Norway’s largest oil company said fourth-quarter net income rose to 9.53 billion kroner ($1.7 billion).

LSE surged 3.1 per cent to 920p. The 210-year-old bourse operator agreed to buy TMX in an all-share transaction valued at about C$3.2 billion ($3.2 billion) as the companies cut costs to counter lost market share.

Syngenta advanced 4.4 per cent to 320.5 francs. The world’s biggest maker of agricultural chemicals reported annual profit that beat analyst estimates.

Reckitt Benckiser lost 5.1 per cent to 3,270p. The maker of Neurofen painkillers said 2011 sales will probably rise at a slower pace than last year as the global market stagnates.

Sanoma Oyj slid 4.7 per cent to €16.72. The Nordic media company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of €900,000.

PagesJaunes retreated 8.5 per cent to €7.08. The directory company said 2010 net income fell 11 per cent to €244.9 million.

Mobistar slid 3.9 per cent to €45.73. Belgium’s second-biggest mobile-phone company forecast profit will decline this year.

PSA Peugeot Citroen sank 4.5 per cent to €29.81. Europe’s second-biggest carmaker posted a 0.5 per cent second-half operating margin for its auto division. – (Bloomberg)