European stock markets moved slightly lower on Monday, as investors digested a range of corporate news with GlaxoSmithKline PLC on the decline after admitting executives may have breached Chinese law and UBS AG higher after a preliminary earnings statement.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.1% to 299.59, after closing at the highest level since late May on Friday.
Shares of GlaxoSmithKline gave up 0.9%, after the pharma major said some of its senior executives appeared to have violated Chinese law. The statement came after Chinese officials alleged that the company was involved in widespread bribery in the country in order to get health-care providers to prescribe its products.
Other drug makers were also lower, with Roche Holding AG down 0.6% and AstraZeneca PLC off 0.4%.
On a more upbeat note, investors welcomed UBS’s preliminary second-quarter results, sending the shares 3.1% higher. The Swiss investment bank said its second-quarter results, which are expected to be released in full on July 30, now include pretax charges for litigation matters totaling about 865 million Swiss francs ($919 million). UBS estimated that net income was 690 million Swiss francs. Additionally, the bank said it has settled with a U.S. regulator over claims related to mortgage-backed securities.
Investors in Europe also looked to Asia, where Japanese stocks closed higher after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc won a majority in Sunday’s upper-house election.
Among country-specific indexes in Europe, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.2% to 6,620.74, while France’s CAC 40 index lost 0.1% to 3,921.36. Germany’s DAX 30 index was slightly lower at 8,327.79.
Outside the major indexes, shares of Royal Philips Electronics NV climbed 4% after the firm reported a 2% rise in second-quarter revenue, as sales in China and other emerging markets continued to grow.
Source : Marketwatch
