Analytics, News, and Forecasts for CFD Markets: stock news — 15-04-2014.

European stocks declined, erasing their gains for the year, after a report that Russian troops entered towns in eastern Ukraine, and as German confidence data missed economists’ forecasts.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1 percent to 326.58 at the close of trading. The gauge rebounded yesterday amid better-than-estimated U.S. retail sales data and earnings from Citigroup Inc., after last week erasing most of the year’s gains as investors sold technology shares on valuation concerns. The equity benchmark has declined 0.5 percent so far this year.

In Germany, a gauge of investor confidence fell for a fourth month in April. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index of investor and analyst expectations, which aims to predict economic developments six months in advance, slid to 43.2 from 46.6 in March. Economists had forecast a decline to 45.

In the U.S., the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s so-called Empire State manufacturing index declined to 1.29 this month from 5.61 in March. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast an increase to 8.

National benchmark indexes retreated in all of the western-European markets except Norway. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.6 percent, Germany’s DAX lost 1.8 percent, while France’s CAC 40 declined 0.9 percent.

SABMiller lost 2.3 percent to 3,052.5 pence. The world’s second-biggest brewer said its 39.6 percent holding in hotel and casino operator Tsogo Sun is not a core part of its operations.

Rio Tinto fell 3.1 percent to 3,302.5 pence. The world’s second-largest mining company said first-quarter iron ore production rose 8 percent to 52.3 million metric tons from 48.3 million tons a year earlier. That missed the 54.7 million-ton median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA plunged 10 percent to 22.5 euro cents, for its biggest drop since March 2012. Italy’s third-largest bank said it may increase the size of a planned share sale to reimburse part of a 4.1 billion-euro ($5.7 billion) government bailout.

L’Oreal advanced 1.1 percent to 122 euros. The world’s largest cosmetics maker said first-quarter revenue gained 2.8 percent in western Europe, excluding currency shifts and acquisitions, while southern European sales grew for the first time in six years.

Sodexo climbed 3.3 percent to 77.36 euros. Deutsche Bank AG raised its recommendation on the world’s second-largest catering company to buy from hold, citing expected strong earnings growth, increased operational efficiencies and the potential for cash returns.

U.S. stock futures rose as earnings from Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola Co. offset data showing a decline in a gauge of New York-area manufacturing.

Global markets:

Nikkei 13,996.81 +86.65 +0.62%

Hang Seng 22,671.26 -367.54 -1.60%

Shanghai Composite 2,101.6 -29.94 -1.40%

FTSE 6,578.33 -5.43 -0.08%

CAC 4,393.87 +9.31 +0.21%

DAX 9,299.05 -40.12 -0.43%

Crude oil $103.10 (-0.89%)

Gold $1292.20 (-2.64%)

European stocks declined, after yesterday’s advance, as investors weighed violence in eastern Ukraine and worse-than-forecast German confidence data. U.S. index futures and Asian shares were little changed.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.5 percent to 328.26 at 10:54 a.m. in London. The gauge rebounded yesterday amid better-than-estimated U.S. retail sales data and earnings from Citigroup Inc., after last week erasing most of the year’s gains as investors sold technology shares on valuation concerns.

“You have this huge uncertainty from the geopolitical front, which is pulling the market in a negative direction,” Witold Bahrke, who helps oversee $55 billion as a senior strategist at PFA Asset Management in Copenhagen, said in a phone interview. “There is a lack of conviction among investors. Sentiment is still tilted to the negative direction after the escalation in Ukraine at the weekend.”

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Ukrainian crisis by telephone yesterday without any substantial breakthrough, according to statements from their offices, as fighting between pro-Russian separatists and government forces highlighted instability in east Ukraine.

In Germany, a gauge of investor confidence fell for a fourth month in April. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index of investor and analyst expectations, which aims to predict economic developments six months in advance, slid to 43.2 from 46.6 in March. Economists had forecast a decline to 45.

SABMiller lost 2.1 percent to 3,058 pence. The world’s second-biggest brewer said its 39.6 percent holding in hotel and casino operator Tsogo Sun is not a core part of its operations.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA slid 8.9 percent to 23 euro cents, for its biggest decline since November. Italy’s third-largest bank said it may increase the size of a planned share sale to reimburse part of a 4.1 billion-euro ($5.7 billion) government bailout.

Siemens AG dropped 1.2 percent to 95.18 euros. The Handelsblatt newspaper cited the chief executive officer of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin, as saying that German, French and Italian businesses, including Europe’s largest engineering company, will be hurt by sanctions against Russia.

L’Oreal (OR) advanced 1.8 percent to 122.90 euros. The world’s largest cosmetics maker said first-quarter revenue gained 2.8 percent in western Europe, excluding currency shifts and acquisitions, while southern European sales grew for the first time in six years.

Roche rose 0.7 percent to 256 Swiss francs. The biggest manufacturer of cancer drugs posted a 17-percent increase in sales of breast-cancer medicines in the first quarter, beating analysts’ forecasts. Total sales fell 0.8 percent to 11.5 billion francs ($13.1 billion), in line with the average of estimates.

Osram Licht AG rose 2.1 percent to 42.67 euros. Citigroup Inc. recommended investors buy shares in the lighting manufacturer that spun off from Siemens. Osram will benefit from expected growth in the global LED lighting market of 20 percent per year through 2020, according to the broker.

FTSE 100 6,561.56 -22.20 -0.34%

CAC 40 4,373.1 -11.46 -0.26%

DAX 9,274.53 -64.64 -0.69%