European Stocks Down But Pearson Bucks Trend

By Tommy Stubbington 

        European stocks fell Thursday, with corporate earnings in sharp focus.
        By midafternoon, the Stoxx Europe 600 was 0.6% lower. The pan-European index had opened higher after an early-morning vote in Greece's Parliament approved a second batch of economic overhauls demanded by creditors, but some negative corporate results meant gains were short-lived.
        One of the biggest losers of the day was Aberdeen Asset Management PLC. Shares in the investment firm slumped more than 7% after the group reported a 7% fall in quarterly assets under management as investors continued to reduce exposure to equities in Asia and emerging markets.
        Elsewhere, recent weakness in commodity prices dragged down energy and mining shares, with oil and gas stocks on the Stoxx Europe 600 down 1.0% and basic resources shares down 0.8%.
        Technology stocks pared the previous session's losses, which were triggered by some disappointing earnings from Apple Inc.
        Germany's DAX index was down 0.4%. France's CAC 40 lost 0.2% in line with the U.K.'s FTSE 100. Bucking the trend in the U.K, was Pearson PLC, which rose around 2% after revealing that it is in advanced talks over the sale of FT Group, which includes the Financial Times newspaper.
        It was subsequently confirmed that Japan's Nikkei will buy the company for GBP844 million ($1.3 billion).
        Credit Suisse Group AG climbed more than 6% after reporting a bigger-than-expected second-quarter profit. Shares in Unilever PLC also rose despite a fall in profit for the first half.
        In currency markets, the euro was 0.5% higher against the dollar at $1.0984. Analysts said there was no specific catalyst for the move, which reverses part of the common currency's decline last week.
        The British pound gave up its early gains against the dollar to fall 0.1% to $1.5588 following disappointing U.K. retail sales data.
        In commodities, Brent crude oil was 0.2% higher at $56.24 a barrel. Gold was 0.4% higher at $1,095.90 a troy ounce.
        Josie Cox contributed to this article
        Write to Tommy Stubbington at tommy.stubbington@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 23, 2015 10:40 ET (14:40 GMT)

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