European shares slip on earnings disappointment

London - European stock markets lost ground on Tuesday, with French bank Credit Agricole and German carmaker BMW among the worst performers after reporting results, while weak oil prices also weighed on energy stocks.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which had risen 0.7% on Monday, edged back by 0.3% while the eurozone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index also weakened by 0.5%.

Credit Agricole slumped 8% after it booked an additional €350m in litigation provisions while posting second quarter results.

BMW also fell 2.7% after its second quarter operating profit eased 3% on slowing China sales, leading the carmaker to caution that while it still expects new records for sales and pretax profit in the full year, earnings momentum was slowing.