European shares fall as investors weigh key earnings

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window) April 25 (Reuters) - European shares dropped on Tuesday as investors scrutinised more corporate earnings and weighed comments by European Central Bank policymakers on the outlook for interest rates. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.4% by 0718 GMT, with mining and banking shares shedding 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively, while the food and beverages index rose 0.2%. Banking sector jitters came back to the fore after U.S. lender First Republic Bank said its deposits tumbled more than $100 billion last quarter and that it was exploring options such as restructuring its balance sheet.


UBS Group lost 2.8% after the bank set aside more money to draw a line under its involvement in toxic mortgages, dealing a heavy blow to its first-quarter profit. ECB's Philip Lane told a French paper that the central bank will need to raise interest rates again at its policy meeting next week, while board member Isabel Schnabel told Politico that a 50 basis points rate hike is not off the table. Nestle rose 1.6% after it reported better-than-expected first-quarter sales. U.S. heavyweights Microsoft Corp and Google-owner Alphabet Inc will report results later in the day. (Reporting by Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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