Analytics, News, and Forecasts for CFD Markets: stock news — 07-04-2014.

European stocks declined the most in a month, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index falling from a six-year high, as technology companies tumbled.

The Stoxx 600 fell 1.2 percent.

“The favorites of the past few months, such as technology and biotechnology stocks, seem to be losing some of the glamor,” said Benno Galliker, a trader at Luzerner Kantonalbank AG in Lucerne, Switzerland. “There are some big question marks around the fair valuation of these shares, hence we’re seeing a bit of a shift into more defensive stocks.”

The Stoxx 600 dropped today after rising for a ninth day on April 4, the longest streak since October, amid merger and acquisition activity and as U.S. payrolls and manufacturing increased optimism that the world’s largest economy is strengthening.

National benchmark indexes retreated in all western-European markets today, except Iceland.

FTSE 100 6,622.84 -72.71 -1.09% CAC 40 4,436.08 -48.47 -1.08% DAX 9,510.85 -184.92 -1.91%  

Technology shares in the Stoxx 600 rallied 128 percent from their low in March 2009 through a six-year high on April 2, beating the 111 percent increase for the broader equity index. The Stoxx 600 Technology Index traded at 20.5 times estimated earnings at the end of last week, compared with 14.8 for the broader gauge.

United Internet declined 4.1 percent to 34.14 euros, and ARM Holdings lost 2.3 percent to 973.5 pence. Iliad SA slid 5.5 percent to 198.50 euros.

Osram Licht retreated 6.7 percent to 44.36 euros. Berenberg Bank cut the lighting manufacturer to hold from buy, meaning it no longer recommends acquiring shares. The brokerage said the transition to LED light may create more of a headwind than originally predicted for the lamps and luminaries unit.

Altice jumped 11 percent to 33.57 euros, while Bouygues lost 6.3 percent to 28.88 euros. Cable billionaire Patrick Drahi’s Altice will pay 13.5 billion euros in cash and give Vivendi 20 percent of the company created from a merger of its Numericable Group with SFR. Vivendi will receive an extra 750 million euros if earnings targets are met, the companies said in separate releases. Vivendi added 0.3 percent to 20.61 euros.

Alfa Laval AB gained 1.3 percent to 179.90 kronor. The maker of heat exchangers agreed to buy Norwegian pumpmaker Frank Mohn AS for 13 billion kroner ($2.2 billion) in cash to capture spending in offshore oil and gas drilling.

U.S. stock-index futures fell, investors awaited this week’s start to the first-quarter corporate-earnings season.

Global markets:

FTSE 6,651.05 -0.66%

CAC 4,457.21 -0.61%

DAX 9,556.50 -1.44%

Nikkei 14,808.85 -1.69%

Hang Seng 22,377.15 -0.59%

Crude oil $100.42 (-0.71%)

Gold $1298.50 (-0.39%).

European stocks declined from a six-year high as technology shares tumbled following a selloff in America. U.S. stock-index futures and Asian shares fell.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.8 percent to 336.63 at 8:18 a.m. in London. The benchmark gauge rose for a ninth day on April 4, the longest streak since October, amid merger and acquisition activity and as U.S. payrolls and manufacturing data increased optimism that the world’s largest economy is strengthening. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slipped 0.3 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.5 percent.

In Germany, a report showed that industrial production rose 0.4 percent in February after a revised 0.7 percent gain the previous month. The February increase compares with a 0.3 percent gain economists had forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.

Iliad lost 5.3 percent to 199 euros, and Nokia fell 2.4 percent to 5.41 euros. A gauge of technology companies posted the biggest decline among 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600. In the U.S., the Nasdaq-100 Index dropped 2.7 percent on April 4, the most since November 2011, after shares from Google Inc. to Yahoo Inc. plunged as investors sold the bull market’s biggest winners.

Holcim gained 5.7 percent to 84.80 Swiss francs, and Lafarge climbed 4.1 percent to 66.74 euros. Their share-swap will lead to synergies of more than 1.4 billion euros, the companies said. Lafarge Chief Executive Officer Bruno Lafont will lead the merged company, which will be called LafargeHolcim.

Altice jumped 9.5 percent to 33 euros, while Bouygues sank 6.1 percent to 28.96 euros. Cable billionaire Patrick Drahi’s Altice will pay 13.5 billion euros in cash and give Vivendi 20 percent of the company created from a merger of its Numericable Group with SFR. Vivendi will receive an extra 750 million euros if earnings targets are met, the companies said in separate releases. Bouygues had increased its bid for the unit, offering 15.5 billion euros in cash and a 5 percent stake of an entity from combining SFR with Bouygues Telecom.

FTSE 100 6,667.94 -27.61 -0.41%

CAC 40 4,462.35 -22.20 -0.50%

DAX 9,598.21 -97.56 -1.01%

Asian stocks fell for the first time in nine days, snapping the longest winning streak on the regional gauge this year, with telecommunication and technology shares leading declines.

Nikkei 225 14,808.85 -254.92 -1.69%

S&P/ASX 200 5,413.7 -9.13 -0.17%

Naver Corp. slumped 6.5 percent in Seoul, SoftBank Corp. lost 4.6 percent in Tokyo and Tencent Holdings Ltd. fell 4.3 percent in Hong Kong as telecom and technology shares slid.

Fanuc Corp., a Japanese maker of factory equipment, sank 1.7 percent, leading industrial firms lower.

Japanese drug company Daiichi Sankyo Co. rose 3.3 percent after Indian drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. agreed to buy Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. in a $4 billion stock deal. Daiichi owns 63.5 percent of Ranbaxy.