EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Break Six-day Winning Run; BNP Slides

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets moved lower on Thursday, breaking the longest winning streak of the year, as investors digested the latest round of earnings reports.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.4% to 330.81, after closing higher for a sixth-straight day on Wednesday.

With a busy day on the earnings front, several prominent firms helped push the pan-European benchmark lower after reporting results. Shares of BNP Paribas SA slumped 3.8% after the French bank said it was hit by a $1.1 billion legal provision, pushing fourth-quarter profit down 76%.

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG) lost 3.8% after the U.K. bank posted a full-year loss as provisions for mis-selling payment-protection insurance continued to weigh on its bottom line.

FLSmidth & Co. AS slid 8% after the Danish engineering firm said it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter and cut its dividend.

The broader losses in Europe came after a solid winning streak, spurred by dovish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and by reassurance from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi that the bank stands ready to ease policy further if needed.

On Wednesday, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney was in the spotlight after the U.K. central bank updated its forward-guidance framework and indicated interest rates could rise in 2015, rather than in 2016 as earlier estimated. Read: Forward Guidance 2.0: Is Carney just digging with a larger shovel?

U.S. Fed chief Yellen was also supposed to testify before Congress on Thursday, but the meeting was postponed due to a snowstorm expected to hit Washington. U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street.

In Europe, most indexes were also on the decline. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index dropped 0.4% to 6,650.58, France's CAC 40 index lost 0.1% to 4,302.04, and Germany's DAX 30 index was flat around 9,538.71.

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