By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets retreated after
two positive trading days on Thursday, after higher-than-expected
Chinese inflation data stoked fears the Chinese government will
withhold more easing measures.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.1% to 303.23, after closing
at the highest level since June 2008 on Wednesday.
Among biggest decliners, shares of Banco Espirito Santo SA sank
6.3%, after J.P. Morgan Cazenove cut the Portuguese bank to
underweight from neutral.
Shares of miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. dropped 1.9%,
after the firm reported mixed first-quarter output results with
iron ore, ferroalloy and aluminum down on the year, while copper
output improved in the period.
For the broader European stock markets, investors looked east
where most Asian bourses fell after data showed consumer prices
rose more than expected in China. The April CPI rose 2.4% from a
year earlier, topping analysts forecasts and increasing more than
the 2.1% reported in March.
In the U.S., stock-index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall
Street, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P
500 index (SPX) both closed at all-time peaks on Wednesday.
Back in Europe, France's CAC 40 index posted one of the biggest
drops among country-specific indexes, down 0.9% at 3,921.49.
Heavyweight drug maker Sanofi SA (SNY) shaved off 1.4%, as the
stock went ex-dividend, meaning new investors will miss out on the
latest dividends.
In Germany, the DAX 30 index was slightly lower at 8,248.27,
wavering around the all-time closing high reached on Wednesday.
Shares of Kloeckner & Co. SE added 2.8% in Frankfurt, after
Citigroup lifted the steel trader to neutral from sell.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index was up 0.1% to 6,588.24.
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