EUROPE MARKETS: H&M Slides; Cairn Energy Rises: Europe's Big Stock Movers

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Here are some of the companies whose shares are making notable moves in Thursday's European trading session.

Gainers

Shares of Cairn Energy PLC picked up 1.8%. The oil-and-gas company said it agreed to sell a 10% stake in the Catcher development and adjacent area in the North Sea in an effort to reduce its capital expenditure.

Shares of Direct Line Insurance Group PLC gained 0.5% after the insurer said it is selling its international unit to Spanish insurer Mapfre SA for 550 million euros ($705.62 million) and will return the proceeds to shareholders.

Decliners

Shares of Hennes & Mauritz AB slid 4.2% after the Swedish fashion retailer said sales in the fiscal fourth quarter got off to a slow start.

Hargreaves Lansdown PLC dropped 4.2% after RBC Capital Markets cut the asset manager to sector perform from outperform.

Danone SA gave up 2.8% as J.P. Morgan Cazenove downgraded the French yogurt maker to underweight from neutral. The analysts said recent data pointing to a potential slowdown in the U.S. and Russia as well as uncertainties in China led to the downgrade.

Shares of Hammerson PLC dropped 3.7% after the retail landlord said it would sell new shares worth around 400 million pounds ($652.8 million) to buy 40% of Highcross Shopping Centre in Leicester.

Mining firms were also lower, as metals prices dropped across the board. Shares of BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) fell 2.9%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) lost 2.4% and Glencore PLC slipped 2.1%.

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