Withering food stocks send European shares lower

(Reuters) - European shares ended down on Friday after briefly touching their lowest level since December 2006, led by weaker food and beverage stocks, as concern the U.S. subprime crisis was far from over darkened investors' mood.

Among major movers, Unilever Plc/NV (UNc.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 5 percent following a Morgan Stanley downgrade of the consumer goods giant, dragging down others in the sector.

The DJ Stoxx European food and beverage index fell 3.8 percent, marking its worst sell off since June 2003, with Nestle (NESN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) declining 4.3 percent, Danone (DANO.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) 3.2 percent lower, and Pernod Ricard ( PERP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) down 4.1 percent.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index closed down 0.55 percent at 1,428.89 points, regaining some ground after touching the mark of 1,420.90, its lowest since early December 2006. It closed down 1.9 percent on the week.

"We had a year-end party and now we've got a proper hangover," said Susanne Lahmann, equity strategist at German bank Bremer Landesbank.

 

Read more at Reuters