London - European stocks fell as the earnings season’s busiest week kicked off, with carmakers and energy shares leading declines.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.5% at 110:28, extending a drop after data that showed the eurozone economy in July grew at the slowest pace in six months.
Automakers extended losses to a third day, weighing on Germany’s DAX Index, as concerns lingered about antitrust collusion in the industry. Oil producers tracked crude lower. European shares fell last week as a strong euro stoked concern that exporter profits will suffer.
• Almost a third of the companies in the Stoxx 600 are scheduled to report results this week.
• Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas SA and UBS are among financial firms slated to do so.
• Among shares moving on corporate results, Gemalto tumbled 15% after warning of a goodwill impairment charge of around $489m late Friday, leading to analyst downgrades.
• Julius Baer climbed 7.1% after surpassing its target for net new money in the first half.
• A euro at $1.20 versus the US dollar may be the “pain threshold” at which the single currency would damp this year’s long-awaited earnings revival in Europe, according to a Bloomberg survey of 23 strategists and fund managers.
• Adding to weak data in Europe, a report showed manufacturing in Germany expanded less than expected in July. The benchmark DAX Index was down 0.7% amid losses in auto shares.
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