UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

RWE shares jump on report of interest in Innogy unit

European stocks sagged Tuesday, on track for their first loss in four sessions, as investors stepped back before this week's Dutch election, the Federal Reserve meeting and while the U.K. moves closer to calling the start of the Brexit process.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.3% to 373.64, giving up a modest gain earlier in the session, with only the health care, consumer goods and utilities groups moving higher.

Volume may be lighter than usual Tuesday as a blizzard bears down on New York City. A snowstorm hitting the East Coast has delayed a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump until Friday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-merkel-meeting-rescheduled-for-friday-2017-03-13).

Overall, "it's a key week for global risk appetite, the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, where a rate hike is a virtual certainty, is likely to set the tone for risky assets like stocks in the coming weeks," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at City Index, in a note. "The Dutch election on Wednesday kicks off a year of political risks for the eurozone."

The Fed is widely expected to increase interest rates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-may-not-pull-any-punches-in-policy-statement-2017-03-13) late Wednesday. European stocks have recent risen in part on the prospect that the U.S. economy has strengthened enough to take on another rate hike, but the move would still raise the cost of borrowing for companies.

Meanwhile, the general election in the Netherlands on Wednesday will be in focus, with investors watching if Geert Wilders' far-right Party for Freedom makes a strong showing.

"The outcome of the Dutch election, by itself, is not a market-moving event, however, it matters because of what it could herald about other, larger elections taking place in Europe this year," said Brooks. "If Wilders does not do as well as expected on Wednesday then we could see the markets start to reduce expectations of a victory for the French National Front leader Marine Le Pen in France's presidential elections in May."

Movers: RWE AG shares (RWE.XE) rallied by 8.6%. They traded at the top of the Stoxx 600 following a Bloomberg report that France's Engie SA (ENGI.FR) was considering making a bid for the German power utility's renewable energy unit, Innogy SE (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rwe-shares-jump-on-report-engie-will-bid-for-unit-2017-03-14)(IGY.XE) .

Innogy shares jumped 7.3% but Engie shares declined 1.2%.

Ocado PLC shares (OCDO.LN) climbed 5% after the online grocery retailer said sales rose 13.1% in the 13 weeks through Feb. 26 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ocado-sales-up-in-1st-quarter-sees-prices-rising-2017-03-14), although the company flagged signs of rising prices.

Prudential PLC (PRU.LN) gained 3.1% after the insurer raised its dividend, posted a 7% rise (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/prudential-raises-dividend-operating-profit-up-7-2017-03-14) in 2016 operating profit and said it's on track to reach its financial objectives for 2017.

Indexes: The German DAX 30 index was off 0.1% at 11,981.75. France's CAC 40 lost 0.3% at 4,986.61.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-on-the-rise-as-pound-drops-to-lowest-since-january-2017-03-14) rose 0.2% to 7,379.25, as the pound hit a 10-week low against the dollar (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-pound-slides-to-lowest-in-weeks-after-lawmakers-clear-a-path-for-brexit-2017-03-14) in the wake of the passage of the Article 50 bill that will allow the government to kick off the Brexit process.

The euro bought $1.0638, compared with $1.0653 late Monday in New York.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 14, 2017 07:33 ET (11:33 GMT)

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