European shares fall as HSBC leads financials lower
LONDON: European equities slipped in early trading on Tuesday, with HSBC leading the regional banking index lower after reporting a 62 per cent slump in its annual pre-tax profit.
Europe's biggest bank dropped 6 per cent and was headed for its biggest one-day fall since August 2015 after its results fell far short of analysts' estimates as it took hefty writedowns from its restructuring.
HSBC was the biggest decliner in the European banking index , which fell 2 per cent and put pressure on the broader stock market. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was quoted 0.2 per cent lower by 0828 GMT.
Some other stocks also weighed on the market.
John Wood Group slumped 9.5 per cent, the top faller in the STOXX 600 index, after announcing results and saying that oil and gas markets continued to present challenges and that it remained cautious on the near term outlook.
On the positive side, InterContinental Hotels Group rose nearly 2 per cent after reporting a slightly better-than-expected yearly profit rise, while both BHP Billiton and Anglo American gained 1.5 per cent after their encouraging results.
Europe's biggest bank dropped 6 per cent and was headed for its biggest one-day fall since August 2015 after its results fell far short of analysts' estimates as it took hefty writedowns from its restructuring.
HSBC was the biggest decliner in the European banking index , which fell 2 per cent and put pressure on the broader stock market. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was quoted 0.2 per cent lower by 0828 GMT.
Some other stocks also weighed on the market.
John Wood Group slumped 9.5 per cent, the top faller in the STOXX 600 index, after announcing results and saying that oil and gas markets continued to present challenges and that it remained cautious on the near term outlook.
On the positive side, InterContinental Hotels Group rose nearly 2 per cent after reporting a slightly better-than-expected yearly profit rise, while both BHP Billiton and Anglo American gained 1.5 per cent after their encouraging results.
