ROME: European stocks dropped for the first time in four days as the European Central Bank restricted loans to Greece.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.4 percent to 370.78 at 8:13 a.m. in London. The measure climbed 0.5 percent on Wednesday as health-care companies and Greek shares rallied. It has still surged 8.2 percent this year after the ECB announced a bond-buying plan that included sovereign bonds.
The ECB’s decision to limit loans, announced late on Wednesday, will raise financing costs for Greek banks and increase oversight by the central bank. The benchmark ASE Index jumped 17 percent in the past three days, the most since 1991, as concern eased that the nation would defy creditors after its government retreated from a plan to ask for a debt writedown.
Deal activity increased. BT Group Plc added 2.1 percent after agreeing to buy EE Ltd. for 12.5 billion pounds ($19 billion). EE owners Orange SA and Deutsche Telekom AG declined more than 0.4 percent.
Some stocks moved after reporting earnings. BNP Paribas SA lost 2.9 percent as France’s largest bank said new rules and higher taxes will weigh on earnings, even as it posted a jump in quarterly profit. AstraZeneca Plc lost 2.3 percent after reporting fourth-quarter earnings and sales that missed analysts’ projections.
Sanofi advanced 2.6 percent after France’s biggest drugmaker said profit will be “stable to slightly growing” this year.
