By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets ended lower Tuesday, with banks and reinsurers leading the move to the downside. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KgaA was among the biggest decliners.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.4% to close at 287.13, following a gain of more than 1% in the Monday session, after upbeat economic data in Europe and the U.S.

Fresenius tumbled 8.7% after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it could cut payments to kidney-dialysis centers from 2013 forward. Fresenius operates a large network of dialysis clinics throughout the U.S.

Analysts said traders were growing cautious ahead of central bank meetings in the U.K. and Europe on Thursday, along with all-important U.S. payrolls data on Friday. Wall Street shook off early losses Tuesday in its last full session before the Independence Day holiday on Thursday, gaining on factory orders and car sales.

Europe trimmed some losses, but still stayed in the red after a blockbuster session a day earlier.

"It seems people are doing a selective bit of buying," said Joseph Neighbour, trading analyst at Central Markets, who notes that some key levels on some indexes, like 3,600 for the French CAC 40, are holding.

"No doubt bull markets are still in play. What the market was doing prior to that was going up every single day without pullbacks whatsoever," said Neighbour. Still, he said investors seem to be now just looking to pick up stocks a bit cheaper than they have been.

Broker moves were accounting for some of the action on Tuesday. Utility company RWE shares fell 4.1% to 22.30 euros after Morgan Stanley cut shares to equal-weight from overweight and cut its price target to EUR28 from EUR36 a share.

Analyst Bobby Chada cited a tough operating environment and higher-than-expected leverage, and said there is little scope for a power-price rebound.

Insurers were also under pressure. J.P. Morgan Cazenove said it expects a 10% decline in natural catastrophe reinsurance and sees flat rates on other reinsurer lines, and reduced its 2014 earnings-per-share estimates for key reinsurers.

Hannover Re SE was cut to underweight from neutral, leaving shares more than 3% lower. Shares of Munich Re fell 2.7% as it was dropped to neutral from overweight. Swiss Re AG dropped 1.6% after being cut to neutral from overweight.

The Athens Composite Index fell down 3.2% to 823.83 after Reuters reported that the country's international troika of lenders has given Athens a three-day ultimatum over its bailout. Greece is facing a risk that its much-needed EUR8.1 billion bailout ($10.59 billion) could be delivered in three monthly payments rather than a lump sum. In Athens, the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA sank 3.5%.

The German DAX 30 index was another big decliner among regional European indexes, dropping 0.9% to 7,910.77, dragged lower by Munich Re and Fresenius.

On the upside, shares of Burberry Group PLC rose nearly 3% to 1,405 pence after analysts at HSBC lifted the luxury retailer to overweight from neutral, and its price target to 1,750 pence from 1,530 pence.

Faring better than most rival indexes, the FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1% to close at 6,303.94. Financials were also lower across the board in Europe, with Lloyds Banking Group (LYG) falling 1.7%.

In Paris, shares of Michelin advanced 2% after UBS upgraded shares to buy from neutral, saying the tire company is only part of the way toward improving its cost positions significantly. Analyst Philippe Houchois also said its more-aggressive pricing on light-vehicle tires is positive.

Those gains weren't enough to support the French CAC 40 index , which fell 0.7% to 3,742.57. Pharmaceutical group Sanofi SA (SNY) fell 1.3%, which dragged the index south, along with a 0.9% loss for Total SA (TOT). Société Générale SA joined banks in the red with a 1.2% drop.

In other markets, Portugal's PSI 20 index fell 1.5% to 5,530.42 as bond yields also rose a day after the country's finance minister, Vitor Gaspar, resigned. Gaspar was seen as a key enforcer of austerity measures. Banco Espirito Santo SA fell more than 4%.

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