By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
European stocks on Thursday pulled back from a record high as
investors kept an eye on Greece's debt situation and sifted through
corporate financial updates.
The Stoxx Europe 600 shed 0.2% to 413.54, with only the
consumer-goods and oil and gas sectors moving higher.
On Wednesday, the Stoxx 600 on Wednesday, the pan-European
benchmark
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-aim-for-new-record-ahead-of-ecb-policy-statement-2015-04-15)
closed at a record high of 414.06, following an upbeat assessment
of the European Central Bank's asset-purchase program by
central-bank chief Mario Draghi.
Investors kept a wary eye on Greece as the country's cash crunch
intensified, with a debt repayment to the International Monetary
Fund and a large wage and pension bill both due at the beginning of
May. On Thursday, the Financial Times reported that Greek officials
had informally approached
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-asked-imf-to-delay-debt-repayment-report-2015-04-16)
the IMF for a delay to repayment, but were rebuffed.
The yield on two-year Greek debt climbed 2.9 percentage points
to 25.9%, while the yield on 10-year debt rose 1 percentage point
to 12.6%.
Greece's Athex Composite lost 0.2% to 742.58. Late Wednesday,
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services cut the country's long-term
credit rating to CCC-plus from B-minus, and data released the same
day showed Greece fell short of its 2014 budget target
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greece-misses-budget-targets-for-2014-2015-04-16).
Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is due to meet President
Barack Obama later Thursday.
On the Stoxx 600, Diageo PLC (DEO) shares were among Thurday's
biggest decliners. Shares fell 2% after the Smirnoff vodka and
Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky maker said organic net sales fell 0.3%
in the nine months ended March 31.
But Unilever PLC shares shone, rising 4.6% after the company,
whose products include Dove soap and Magnum ice cream, said
first-quarter underlying sales grew 2.8%, outstripping expectations
of a 2.1% increase from a Thomson Reuters projection.
On the country indexes, Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.8% to 12,136.56
and France's CAC 40 lost 0.4% to 5,235.96. The U.K..'s FTSE 100
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-eases-from-record-high-but-unilever-sabmiller-gain-ground-2015-04-16)
dropped 0.2% to 7,081.54, also pulling back from a record closing
high set on Wednesday.
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