By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks slipped Monday, with
shares of BNP Paribas SA struggling and as Shire PLC moved lower
ahead of an afternoon presentation by the drug maker.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.6% to 346.16. The index
finished last week with a 0.3% gain.
Shares of BNP Paribas SA fell 0.8% as the bank neared a
settlement of up to $9 billion with the U.S. Investigators say they
have evidence BNP intentionally hid $30 billion of financial
transactions that violated U.S. sanctions, people close to the
investigation told The Wall Street Journal.
Shire PLC (SHPGY) shares fell 1.8%, popping up among leading
decliners, before the drug maker held a meeting for investors at 1
p.m. London time.
Shire on Friday rejected a 27.2 billion-pound ($46.37 billion)
takeover bid from U.S. rival AbbVie Inc. (ABBV), saying the offer
fundamentally undervalued the company. Its shares on Friday surged
17% as investors speculated Shire will eventually be acquired.
A number of mining shares rose following a better-than-expected
result for HSBC's June preliminary manufacturing report from China,
a major buyer of natural resources. Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) gained 2%,
Anglo American PLC picked up 1.1%, and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) moved
up 1.1%.
Stock in Alstom SA rose 1.1% as France on Sunday won an option
to buy a 20% stake in the company from France's Bouygues SA . The
move was part of an agreement to support General Electric Co.'s
(GE) bid to purchase Alstom's energy business.
Among country indexes, the FTSE 100 index fell 0.5% to 6,794.
Germany's DAX 30 index lost 0.8% to 9,905.73 and France's CAC 40
index fell 0.7% to 4,510.30.
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