Most Stocks Drop in Europe After RBS, Credit Agricole Earnings; Oil Falls

By Lynn Thomasson and Jonathan Burgos - Feb 23, 2012 3:15 PM GMT+0700
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South Korean won bank notes are arranged for a photograph in Seoul, South Korea. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

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Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Stephen Halmarick, Sydney-based head of investment markets research at Colonial First State Global Asset Management, talks about global financial markets. Halmarick also discusses Europe's sovereign debt crisis and China's economy. He speaks in Hong Kong with John Dawson, Rishaad Salamat, Mia Saini and Zeb Eckert on Bloomberg Television's "Asia Edge." (Source: Bloomberg)

Most European stocks fell as earnings from Credit Agricole SA (ACA) to Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc disappointed investors. The dollar dropped against most of its peers, while oil declined from a nine-month high.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) lost less than 0.1 percent as of 8:14 a.m. in London, with six stocks declining for every five that rose. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed. The dollar fell 0.2 percent to $1.3270 per euro and 10- year Treasury yields increased one basis point to 2.01 percent. Italian 10-year bond yields rose four basis points to 5.55 percent. Oil slid 0.2 percent to $106.03 a barrel.

RBS, Britain’s biggest government-owned lender, and Credit Agricole, France’s third-largest bank, reported wider-than- estimated losses after writing down Greek debt. Earnings have missed estimates at half of the 202 companies in the Stoxx Europe 600 that have released quarterly results since Jan. 9, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“Investors are very skeptical about whether a recovery can proceed without another hurdle jumping up again,” said Angus Gluskie, who oversees about $350 million as managing director at White Funds Management in Sydney. “The austerity measures running through Europe are likely to take the edge off growth.”

Target Corp., Sears Holdings Corp. and Kohl’s Corp. are among U.S. companies scheduled to report earnings today. Data today may show German business confidence rose to the highest in seven months in February, while initial claims for U.S. jobless benefits stayed near a four-year low, according to economists’ estimates from a Bloomberg survey.

To contact the reporters on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net; Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net