After two days of edging lower, European stocks retreated in a broad-based selloff.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.6 percent at 8:14 a.m. in London, as more than five out of six stocks slid. Industrial-goods shares were the biggest drag on the gauge, with Schindler Holding AG sliding 3.3 percent after forecasting a decline in the global elevator and escalator market.
Investors are assessing a recent rally that helped European shares erase their post-Brexit losses and propelled U.K. and German benchmarks into bull markets. Optimism that central banks will remain supportive of growth, and some better-than-forecast corporate results drove a rebound in stocks after a slump following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
The Stoxx 600 is still down 6.1 percent for the year amid skepticism about the region’s economic recovery and the efficacy of European Central Bank stimulus. Economists have lowered their euro-area growth forecasts for this year and next, and analysts are projecting a slide in annual profit at the index’s members, compared with January calls for an increase.
Among shares active on corporate news, Electrolux AB, which gets more than a third of its revenue from North America, lost 2.4 percent after a report showed U.S. shipments of major home appliances fell in July.
Linde AG jumped 5.5 percent after people familiar with the matter said Praxair Inc. has held merger talks with the German industrial-gas company. Antofagasta Plc climbed 3.2 percent after saying first-half earnings rose and announcing an interim dividend of 3.1 cents a share.
