European stocks fall for 2nd day as BP, UBS drop

London - European stocks declined as oil deepened a drop and investors weighed earnings from companies including BP and UBS Group AG.

Energy shares, miners and banks led declines in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index today. BP slid 5.9% after its quarterly earnings slumped 91%, missing estimates. UBS lost 4.7% after pretax profit at its investment bank trailed predictions.

The Stoxx 600 slipped 0.6% at 10:20. The benchmark had its worst start to a year since the financial crisis amid China’s slowdown and an oil rout. While optimism that global central-bank actions will support the economy helped temper losses toward the end of last month, anxiety about global-growth prospects has returned.

Earnings are also on investors’ minds, with about 90 companies reporting this week. Analysts estimate that profit at Stoxx 600 firms grew 0.7% last year, and will increase 3.9% in 2016.

Alfa Laval AB tumbled 9% after its fourth-quarter pretax profit missed analysts’ projections. Infineon Technologies AG dropped 4.8% after its quarterly operating income declined.

Danske Bank A/S gained 3.7% after announcing a share buyback plan that’s almost double its previous program. Raiffeisen Bank International AG surged 10% after reporting annual profit above its previous forecast.

Ocado Group jumped 7% after posting full-year profit in line with estimates and saying it expects to sign international deals in the medium term.