Miners, banks under pressure, Euromedis gains after revenue growth
By Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks declined Wednesday after setting fresh 14-month highs in the previous session, with miners and banks among the biggest fallers and Swiss pharmaceutical company Basilea dropping sharply after a setback on a key drug.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index fell 0.6% to 252.66 after Tuesday marked the index's highest close since October 2008.
Among the main country indexes, the German DAX 30 index fell 0.7% to 5,969.50, the French CAC 40 index dipped 0.4% to 3,942.39 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index fell 0.3% to 5,418.86.
Basilea was the standout faller, with its shares dropping 21% after the company, which holds the patent on ceftobiprole, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had rejected Johnson & Johnson's application to market the drug.
The FDA said some of the data underpinning the drug application were "unreliable or unverifiable," and recommended that two new studies be carried out, according to a statement from Basilea. See story on the FDA's findings.
In economic news, the European Central Bank reported that the annual measure of money supply in the euro-zone economy contracted on an annual basis for the first time in November while lending by banks to the private sector continued to shrink. See story on money supply.
The euro showed little immediate reaction to the data and changed hands at $1.4352, little changed on the day.
Bank stocks were mostly lower though, with Bank of Ireland down 2.7% in Dublin and Royal Bank of Scotland losing 1.9% in London.
Mining stocks were also lower across the board, with Rio Tinto , BHP Billiton and Anglo American all losing more than 1%.
Among stocks rising Wednesday was medical-supplies distributor Euromedis Group , which gained 10.9% in Paris after reporting an 11% rise in its fiscal first-quarter revenue.
Airlines stocks dropped in Europe, with Ryanair Holdings down 2.1%, easyJet down 0.8% and Air France-KLM down 1.4%.
Shares in Japan Airlines had earlier plunged around 23% in Tokyo on concerns that the struggling group may file for bankruptcy protection.
