European stock markets moved lower on Thursday, breaking the longest winning streak of the year, as investors digested the latest round of earnings reports.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.4% to 330.81.
The ECB says that data from the Survey of Professional Forecasters indicates a sharp downward revision for HICP in 2014 to 1.1% from a previous estimate of 1.5%. The estimate for 2015 was also lowered to 1.4% from 1.6%. The fresh 2016 forecast was pegged at 1.7% and the long-term estimate was left unchanged at 1.9%.
In Europe, most indexes were also on the decline. The France's CAC 40 index lost 0.1% and Germany’s DAX 30 index was flat.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index dropped 0.4%.
The Bank of England on Wednesday raised its growth forecast of the U.K. economy to 3.4% this year, up from a previous projection of 2.8%. The central bank also said the unemployment rate has fallen faster-than-expected and is likely to reach the 7% threshold by the spring of this year.
Shares of BNP Paribas SA slumped 3.8% after the French bank said it was hit by a $1.1 billion legal provision, pushing fourth-quarter profit down 76%.
Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC lost 3.8% after the U.K. bank posted a full-year loss.
FLSmidth & Co. AS slid 8% after the Danish engineering firm said it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter and cut its dividend.
Rolls-Royce (RR/) tumbled 13%. The company reported that pretax profit excluding hedging and some one-time items rose to 1.76 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) in 2013, while sales advanced 27% to 15.5 billion pounds.
Nestle, the world’s largest food company, slipped 1.6% after the company reported the smallest annual sales advance in four years amid sluggish spending in developed markets.
ABB Ltd. (ABBN) decreased 1.7% after it lowered its medium-term sales target, citing weak global economic growth. Net income declined 13% to $525 million in the fourth quarter, the company said.
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