London - European stocks declined for an eighth day, the longest streak since 2003, amid concern the region’s economy is worsening. US index futures were little changed, while Asian shares fell.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.4 percent to 310.2 at 8.49am in London, after earlier rising as much as 1 percent. The gauge has retreated 7.7 percent since October 6 as the International Monetary Fund cut its global-growth forecasts, and German industrial production and investor confidence declined. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added less than 0.1 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 1.1 percent.
“We’ve reached the part of the cycle where bad news is bad news,” Steen Jakobsen, chief investment officer at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen, said in a phone interview. “For years, we’ve been trading on monetary policy now we have to deal with real economic problems and that of course for the markets is a total different kettle of fish.”
Nestle SA slipped 2.6 percent to 65.20 Swiss francs. The world’s biggest food company said nine-month sales excluding acquisitions increased 4.5 percent. Analysts had expected a 4.7 percent gain.
Shire, which plunged yesterday by the most in 12 years, tumbled 8.7 percent today, after AbbVie’s board formally asked shareholders to vote against its takeover of the company.
In the US, a report at 8.30am in Washington may show initial jobless claims rose in the week ended October 11, economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected. Separately, a report at 9.15am in Washington may show that US industrial production advanced 0.4 percent in September after slipping 0.1 percent the previous month, according to another survey.
BUDGET SCRUTINY
The European Union has started a two-week probe of euro-area governments’ draft budgets. As yields on 10-year securities from Europe’s most-indebted nations surged yesterday, led by Greece and sweeping up Portugal, Ireland and Italy, the European Commission started a process of picking apart nations’ 2015 spending plans, seeking to defuse potential fiscal time bombs.
Roche added 1.2 percent to 262 Swiss francs. The world’s biggest maker of cancer drugs said third-quarter sales rose 1.8 percent to 11.8 billion Swiss francs ($12.5 billion). That beat the 11.6 billion-franc average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Man Group advanced 4.4 percent to 113.1 pence. The world’s largest publicly traded hedge-fund manager said assets under management jumped 25 percent in the third quarter, in line with some analysts’ estimates, helped by acquisitions in the US.
Remy Cointreau gained 2.3 percent to 53.09 euros after saying second-quarter sales excluding acquisitions fell 5.5 percent, in line with analysts’ estimates.
Bloomberg