EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Slip After Rally; U.S. Data Await

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Europe's benchmark stock index moved lower on Wednesday, pulling back after its biggest rally in eight months, as investors focused on a raft of economic-data releases from the euro zone and the U.S.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.2% to 336.58, after jumping 2.1% on Tuesday. The move was the largest one-day percentage gain since early July, triggered by easing tensions between Russia and Ukraine after Russian troops were called back to their bases and President Vladimir Putin stressed he wouldn't use military force just now.

Among major movers in Wednesday's trade, shares of Subsea 7 SA dropped 6.2% after the offshore-engineering firm said earnings per share fell more than 40% in the fourth quarter.

Shares of Melrose Industries PLC dropped 7.1% after the investment company reported a rise in full-year adjusted pretax profit, but says it faces headwinds from the current strength of the pound.

On a more upbeat note, shares of Carrefour SA advanced 1.8% after the French supermarkets giant said operating profit grew 5.4% last year.

Euro-zone economic data

More broadly, investors focused on fresh data on the euro zone. Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, said retail sales in January jumped a better-than-expected 1.6% in the currency union compared with December, fueled by a solid increase in the nonfood sector. A second estimate on GDP growth confirmed the euro-zone economy expanded by 0.3% in the fourth quarter.

Additionally, the purchasing managers index for the euro bloc showed its economy grew faster than estimated in February, sending the composite PMI to the highest level since June 2011.

In the U.K., the Markit/CIPS services PMI for February came in at 58.2, exceeding analyst expectations, but slipping from the 58.3 recorded in January.

In the afternoon, the U.S. ADP jobs report is likely to be watched for any clues on how strong February nonfarm payrolls have been ahead of the data release on Friday. U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Wall Street.

Among country-specific indexes in Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index lost 0.4% to 6,793.61, while Germany's DAX 30 index fell 0.4% to 9,553.43. France's CAC 40 index dropped 0.4% to 4,379.85.

Ukraine-Russia standoff

Investors also watched for developments in the Ukraine-Russia standoff, with Nato and Russia expected to discuss the latest developments at a special meeting on Wednesday. Nato said on Tuesday it continued to support a peaceful solution to the crisis, but that Russia is violating "Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Analysts at UBS said markets shouldn't underestimate what's at stake and that the "risk premia in financial assets certainly do not seem excessive." The situation is a "bad advertisement" for emerging markets at a sensitive time, they said, and the consequence could be redemption pressures on emerging-market bond funds.

"If the situation in Ukraine fails to de-escalate, we believe flow pressure on EM funds could impact markets such as Hungary, South Africa and Turkey, which have minimal economic linkages with Russia and Ukraine," they said.

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