ROME: European stocks reversed on Tuesday as volatile commodity prices and company results hit shares, giving up some of the gains won over the previous nine trading days as the Greek debt crisis eased.
Lodon s benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies slid 0.29 percent to close at 6,769.07 points.
In the eurozone, the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.70 percent compared with Monday s close to 5,106.57 p
“After a nine-day positive run leading out of the Greek debt crisis, European shares dropped back on Tuesday with poor results from pharmaceutical giant Novartis acting as a drag on Europe s healthcare sect
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis reported $4.1 billion (3.8 billion euros) in income for the first half of the year, down 20 percent, due largely to a stronger dollar. Novartis shares lost 2.05 percent to close at 100.20 Swiss francs on the Zurich stock market.
“The market is catching its breath after a rather bullish series,” said Andrea Tueni, an analyst at Saxo Banque of Tuesday s market retreat in Europe.
“It seems normal after an enormous rebound of 10 percent in the last 10 sessons,” added Xavier de Villepion, a trader at HPC.
Strong dollar pressure
In foreign exchange, the euro strengthened to $1.0920 from $1.0824 late in New York on Monday, when it had earlier hit a near three-month low point at $1.0809.
Earlier Tuesday, the dollar climbed to a five-week high against the yen on growing expectations the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.
“The strong USD continues to weigh on market sentiment adding pressure to most commodity prices,” said Myrto Sokou, senior research analyst at Sucden Financial.
