UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Sara Sjolin and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Eurozone PMI confirms flash reading

European stock markets finished sharply lower on Wednesday, as investors assessed a mixed bag of corporate news, with shares in Dialog Semiconductor PLC and London Stock Exchange Group PLC dropping.

After a wobbly start to the day, the Stoxx Europe 600 index closed down 1.1% at 331.80, falling for a fourth straight session and finishing at its lowest level since April 7. The pan-European benchmark on Tuesday dropped as the euro hit a roughly nine-month high against the dollar.

The shared currency was largely flat at $1.1490 on Wednesday, leaving corporate updates and economic worries to dictate the trading action.

"Concerns that slowing global growth could derail a nascent return in investor confidence saw stock markets head lower again," said Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets, in a note on Wednesday.

Earnings deluge: Dialog Semiconductor (DLG.XE) was among the Stoxx 600's biggest decliners, slumping 8.6%. The big loss came after the chipsmaker used in Apple (AAPL) and Samsung Electronics (005930.SE) smartphones reported a sharp drop in underlying first-quarter profit.

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.LN) lost 4.2% after Intercontinental Exchange Inc.(ICE) said it doesn't intend to make an offer (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ice-opts-not-to-bid-for-london-stock-exchange-2016-05-04) for the U.K. exchange operator.

BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) slid 5.8% after Brazilian federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed a civil lawsuit demanding (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mining-firms-bhp-vale-face-44b-lawsuit-in-brazil-2016-05-03) that mining companies responsible for a catastrophic dam failure in November pay up to 155 billion reais ($43.55 billion) for cleanup and remediation.

Also in London, supermarkets were among biggest fallers after a report that the top four U.K. grocers continued to lose market shar (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/top-four-uk-grocers-lose-market-share-2016-05-04)e to German discount retailers Aldi and Lidl. Shares of Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC (MRW.LN) lost 1.8%, Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) (TSCO.LN) dropped 5.4% and J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) slid 6.3%. Sainsbury's also reported a swing to pretax profit for fiscal 2016, but cut its dividend (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sainsbury-cuts-dividend-payout-2016-05-04).

Air France-KLM (AF.FR) dropped 4.3% after posting a loss for the first quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/air-france-klm-loss-narrows-2016-05-04-14854153). The Franco-Dutch airline said, however, lower fuel costs had helped earnings during the period.

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI.BT) lost 1.6% after the brewer said unfavorable currency effects damaged net profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ab-inbev-profit-dips-on-currency-factors-2016-05-04-14854138) in the first quarter of the year.

On a more upbeat note, A.P. Moeller-Maersk (MAERSK-B.KO) jumped 6.4% after the Danish oil and shipping conglomerate reported earnings ahead of forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/maersk-profit-sinks-on-freight-rates-crude-prices-2016-05-04).

German engineering giant Siemens AG (SIE.XE) (SIE.XE) gained 1.4% after its second-quarter earnings beat analyst expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/siemens-profit-beats-forecasts-2016-05-04-1485352).

Société Générale SA (GLE.FR) picked up 1.7% after the French bank reported an increase in first-quarter net profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/societe-generale-profit-boosted-by-retail-banking-2016-05-04), boosted by its retail banking performance.

Indexes: Germany's DAX 30 index fell 1% to end at 9,828.25, while France's CAC 40 index erased 1.1% to close at 4,324.23.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index lost 1.2% to finish at 6,112.02 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-on-track-for-third-straight-loss-as-bhp-sainsburys-weigh-2016-05-04), driven lower in large part by the miners and supermarkets.

Economic news: The final composite purchasing managers index for the eurozone in April was in line with the flash reading at 53. That's down a bit from 53.1 in March and still above the 50 level that signals expansion in the economy.

The services PMI for the bloc slipped to 53.1 from the flash estimate of 53.2, matching the March reading of 53.1.

Retail sales in the eurozone fell sharply in March (http://www.wsj.com/articles/eurozone-retail-sales-fell-sharply-in-march-1462352401#:i22zkQvozAQd0A), down 0.5% from February, according to data from Eurostat.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 04, 2016 12:31 ET (16:31 GMT)

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