Unilever sank 5% after Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation to "underweight". France's L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics group, tumbled 4.8% after Deutsche Bank lowered its rating to "sell", citing mounting pressure on margins from rising commodity prices and risks of a slowdown in consumer spending.
At 1255 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.5% to 1 429.15, after falling to as low as 1 420.90 - retreating for the sixth time in eight sessions.
After posting a thin 1.6% gain in 2007, its worst annual performance since 2002, the index has already lost 5.1% in 2008, hammered by mounting worries over the prospect of a US recession.
"The market is in the process of pricing in a US recession, turning into bear mode, with more forecast downgrades looming," said Jean-Luc Buchalet, strategist at FactSet in Paris.
"Defensive stocks have been showing some resilience, such as telecoms and pharmaceuticals, while all the other sectors are just sinking," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment