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European Stocks Drop as a Slump in Banks Outweighs a Tech Rally

European Stocks Steady After Selloff; Defensive Sectors Drop

(Bloomberg) -- European equities retreated for a fourth day as a drop in bank and chemical stocks outweighed a rally in technology companies.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell dropped 0.3 percent at the close after erasing an earlier rise of 0.6 percent. Lenders were the second-biggest drag, while a slide in Bayer AG pulled chemical shares lower. Hawkish comments from central bankers rattled investors this week and sparked a selloff in both equity and bond markets. Still, the Stoxx 600 is up 5 percent for the first half of the year.

European Stocks Drop as a Slump in Banks Outweighs a Tech Rally
  • Bayer fell 4.2 percent after saying it plans to cut its sales and profit forecasts for this year because of unexpectedly high stockpiling in Brazil of its crop-protection products.
  • Stoxx 600 are down 2.1 percent this week, the biggest five-month retreat since November.
  • Despite the recent retreat, European equity funds have seen net investment inflows of $2.4 billion in the week to June 28, marking a 14th straight week of inflows for the region, according to Bank of America-Merrill Lynch strategists, citing EPFR Global data.
  • Adidas AG gained 2.1 percent after U.S. rival Nike Inc. delivered a rosy annual forecast.

--With assistance from Elena Popina

To contact the reporter on this story: Blaise Robinson in Paris at brobinson58@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Brian Lysaght, Richard Richtmyer