EUROPE MARKETS: Europe Stocks Slip After Chinese Inflation Data

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets retreated after two positive trading days on Thursday, after higher-than-expected Chinese inflation data stoked fears the Chinese government will withhold more easing measures.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.1% to 303.23, after closing at the highest level since June 2008 on Wednesday.

Among biggest decliners, shares of Banco Espirito Santo SA sank 6.3%, after J.P. Morgan Cazenove cut the Portuguese bank to underweight from neutral.

Shares of miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. dropped 1.9%, after the firm reported mixed first-quarter output results with iron ore, ferroalloy and aluminum down on the year, while copper output improved in the period.

For the broader European stock markets, investors looked east where most Asian bourses fell after data showed consumer prices rose more than expected in China. The April CPI rose 2.4% from a year earlier, topping analysts forecasts and increasing more than the 2.1% reported in March.

In the U.S., stock-index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 index (SPX) both closed at all-time peaks on Wednesday.

Back in Europe, France's CAC 40 index posted one of the biggest drops among country-specific indexes, down 0.9% at 3,921.49.

Heavyweight drug maker Sanofi SA (SNY) shaved off 1.4%, as the stock went ex-dividend, meaning new investors will miss out on the latest dividends.

In Germany, the DAX 30 index was slightly lower at 8,248.27, wavering around the all-time closing high reached on Wednesday.

Shares of Kloeckner & Co. SE added 2.8% in Frankfurt, after Citigroup lifted the steel trader to neutral from sell.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index was up 0.1% to 6,588.24.

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