European Stocks Steady as Carmakers' Jump Offsets Travel Firms

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks ended the session little changed as a rally in carmakers amid a weakening euro offset a decline in travel and leisure companies.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added less than 0.2 percent at the close, with the volume of shares traded about a third lower than the 90-day average. Automakers gained to a two-week high as the euro slid 0.5 percent against the dollar.

• Among shares active on corporate news, Nokian Renkaat Oyj rallied 6.6 percent after saying full-year operating profit will grow at least 10 percent, about twice as fast as previously forecast.
• Travel and leisure stocks slid 0.7 percent. The gauge is down 3 percent this quarter in the second-biggest loss among European industry groups.
• Pandora A/S slid 14 percent, the most since 2011, after its chief executive officer said the U.S., the jeweler’s main market, remains challenging.
• The Euro Stoxx 50 Index has dropped about 3.9 percent since a May high as the region’s currency strengthened against the dollar. The rift between the two assets is now the widest in almost 15 months.

--With assistance from Elena Popina

To contact the reporter on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Catherine Larkin