EUROPE MARKETS: Philips, Siemens Shares Weigh On European Markets

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks fell Tuesday, with shares of major industrial firms Royal Philips NV and Siemens AG among those pulling the regional market's benchmark toward its first loss in nine sessions.

The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.4% to 370.83, coming off Monday's close at a fresh seven-year high, as investors took in their stride the widely expected victory for anti-austerity Syriza in Greece's general election.

On the country benchmarks, Germany's DAX fell 0.5% to 10,741.02, after closing a record high on Monday. France's CAC 40 shed 0.4% to 4,654.94, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gave up 0.1% to 6,844.73.

Focus turned to a raft of financial results. Royal Philips fell 4.5%, trading near the bottom of the Stoxx 600, as the Dutch electronics maker warned that it may not hit its financial targets for 2016. The warning comes as the company grapples with operational setbacks in its health care division. Also, fourth-quarter profit at Philips sank 67%.

Siemens shares were dragged 3.9% lower after the German engineering heavyweight said weakening in the European economy and the drop in oil prices left its fiscal first-quarter profit down nearly 25% at 1.08 billion euros ($1.21 billion). Earnings from continuing operations fell 18% to EUR1.11 billion, missing expectations of EUR1.26 billion by analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal.

Also lower, retailer Dixons Carphone PLC lost 4.6% following a downgrade to underweight from equalweight at Morgan Stanley.

But among advancers was EasyJet PLC . Shares gained 3.6% after the budget airline raised its revenue forecast and reported first-quarter sales growth that beat expectations.

Shares of Novartis AG were up 1.8% after the Swiss drug maker said it expects business to gain momentum even as its posted a decline in fourth-quarter profit.

Meanwhile, Greece's Athex Composite fell 1.5%, extending losses from Monday following the general election.

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