European stocks fell after the UK said its economy grew less quickly in the second quarter than initially reported, tempering optimism about the outlook for corporate profits. Axa SA, Zurich Financial Services AG and Ericsson AB, among the week's best performers, led declines.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index shed 1.6 percent to close at 2,822.07, sliding for the first day in three. It has climbed 16 percent since July 24, when the index dropped to a five-year low.
The Stoxx 600 Index fell 1.3 percent to 234.58, with banks accounting for more than a fifth of the decline.
"I haven't seen any kind of macroeconomic data to make me change my mind" about the outlook for stocks, said Rosanna Burcheri, who helps manage about ?800 million (US$1.2 billion) at M&G Group and recently sold Ciba Specialty Chemicals AG shares.
Britain's economy grew 0.6 percent in the second quarter, down from the 0.9 percent pace estimated last month, the government said. Credit Suisse First Boston strategists yesterday advised clients to reduce stock holdings, saying recent gains may have left shares expensive amid signs of faltering growth in Europe and the US.
The value of trading in shares listed in the French benchmark CAC 40 Index was 61 percent of the six-month daily average. The equivalents for the UK FTSE 100 Index and Germany's DAX Index were less than three-fifths of the respective six-month averages.
Two shares declined for every one that advanced in the Stoxx 600.
The Stoxx 50 has added 2.2 percent this week, paring a climb of as much as 4.3 percent.
Axa, Europe's second-largest insurer, fell 5.9 percent to 15.48 euros, leaving the shares up 15 percent since last Friday.
Zurich Financial, Switzerland's biggest insurer, fell 7.3 percent to SF172.
Ericsson lost 17 percent to 7.3 Swedish kronor. At yesterday's close, shares of the world's biggest maker of mobile- phone network equipment had surged 67 percent in three sessions as some analysts said the stock was undervalued. That prompted some hedge-fund managers to end bets that the shares would drop further.
Rights to buy Ericsson stock, which began trading separately from the shares earlier this month and will do so until Aug. 29, slid 31 percent to 3.41 Swedish kronor after more than tripling over the first four days of the week. The company is selling 30 billion kronor (US$3.2 billion) of shares.
The media group has led gains this week among the 18 Stoxx industry groups, adding 10 percent. Sixteen of the groups have climbed since last Friday, 11 of them rising more than 3 percent.
ABB Ltd surged 16 percent to SF9.2. Europe's largest electrical-engineering company plans to sell most of its structured-finance arm to General Electric Co, Reuters reported, citing unidentified people in the industry. A sale may be announced as early as Tuesday, Reuters said.
Infineon Technologies AG shed 5.9 percent to 12.70 euros.
ProMos Technologies Inc, a venture between Europe's second- biggest semiconductor company and Taiwan-based Mosel Vitelic Inc (
Centerpulse AG rose 11 percent to SF221.
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