European stocks retreat after four-week decline

London - European stocks fell, signaling investor confidence remains low in the region’s equities after four straight weeks of losses.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.6% at 10:14. Gains in lenders and oil shares on Friday trimmed the benchmark’s weekly decline to 0.4%. Today’s decline indicates the bullishness was brief - a rally that pushed the Stoxx 600 up to a two-month high in March from a February 11 low has been losing steam amid renewed concerns about the prospects for global growth.

Investors have pulled money from an exchange-traded fund tracking European stocks for nine straight weeks, and the Stoxx 600 is now trading near its lowest valuation relative to US equities in more than a year.

The US earnings season unofficially kicks off later today, when Alcoa reports quarterly results after markets close. European peers including Tesco and Sodexo SA are scheduled to release financial reports this week. Analysts are forecasting profit at Stoxx 600 companies will shrink in 2016, reversing earlier calls for growth.

Among shares active on corporate news, SAP SE declined 2.5% after its first-quarter sales missed estimates as some deals were signed later than expected.

Lenders in Italy, among the worst Stoxx 600 performers last week, recovered some losses today. Banco Popolare SC and UniCredit SpA gained at least 2.1%.