* FTSEurofirst 300 closes 1.5 percent lower
* Financials weak after downbeat results from U.S. peers
* Miners fall on China concerns, weaker metals prices
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - European shares slipped on
Wednesday from a 15-month closing high as banks fell after
worse-than-expected earnings from Bank of America <BAC.N> and
Morgan Stanley <MS.N> and miners dropped on China concerns.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
finished 1.5 percent lower at 1,052.53 points, having touched a
two-week low at 1,048.96 in intra-day trade. The fall was its
biggest one-day percentage drop in 1-1/2 months.
The index hit its highest closing level since Oct. 3, 2008
in the previous session.
Financial shares were on the back foot after Bank of America
posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, while Morgan
Stanley's quarterly profit fell short of analysts' expectations.
[] []
Standard Chartered <STAN.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, Barclays
<BARC.L>, Lloyds <LLOY.L>, BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, Societe
Generale <SOGN.PA>, Credit Agricole <CAGR.PA> and Commerzbank
<CBKG.DE> fell 1 to 3.6 percent.
Greek banks extended recent falls, on continued worries
about the country's economic position. [] Bank of
Piraeus <BOPr.AT> and National Bank of Greece <NBGr.AT> fell
6.9 and 5.5 percent respectively.
Investor sentiment was also dented by data showing U.S.
housing starts unexpectedly fell in December, signalling a bumpy
ride for the country's economic recovery. []
"The Bank of America's results, more than anything else, and
also the poor housing data are the things investors have been
focusing on," said Angus Campbell, head of sales at Capital
Spreads.
Miners also came under pressure, tracking lower metals
prices on worries over tightening monetary policy in China, a
top commodity consumer. Copper <MCU3>, aluminium <MAL3>, nickel
<MNI3> and zinc <MZN3> prices slipped 2.6 to 4 percent.
Shares of Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>,
Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L> and Vedanta Resources
<VED.L> shed 4.1 to 6.3 percent.
The Chinese authorities ordered some big banks to curb
lending for the rest of January, intensifying their efforts to
prevent the world's third-largest economy from overheating.
[].
"On the whole the market has also been influenced by what
has been happening in China and it will be interesting to see
how things pan out with Chinese GDP numbers overnight," Campbell
said.
Investors will keenly watch fourth-quarter gross domestic
product from China, due for release on Thursday.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <> index, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC 40 <> were down between 1.7 and
2.1 percent.
TECH COMPANIES GAIN
Among individual movers, Dutch chip equipment maker ASML
<ASML.AS> rose 3.1 percent after fourth-quarter new orders beat
expectations as the market continued to improve. []
Tech companies also benefitted from an upbeat earnings
statement from IBM <IBM.N> as the firm raised its 2010 profit
target and reported a stronger-than-expected 9 percent increase
in fourth-quarter earnings []
UK software maker Sage <SGE.L> and Cap Gemini <CAPP.PA> rose
0.3 and 0.5 percent respectively.
With the U.S. reporting season in full swing, analysts said
some volatility in equity markets could be expected. Goldman
Sachs <GS.N> and Google <GOOG.O> are due to report earnings on
Thursday.
"Volatility is going to be the name of the game going
forward as the earnings number come out. We are going to get
good days, followed by bad days. That's effectively what
happened today," said Peter Dixon, UK economist at Commerzbank
On the macroeconomic front, Britain's labour market showed
signs of stabilisation at the end of last year, with the biggest
fall in benefit claims in nearly 3 years and the first fall in
an internationally comparable unemployment measure in 18 months.
[]
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Louise
Heavens)
