European stocks fell on Tuesday, with Sweden’s SBB leading the losers after the company postponed its dividend, while investors remained wary ahead of important US economic data.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.2% by 0706 GMT, as investors awaited US consumer price data later this week for clues about whether the Federal Reserve will pause interest rate hikes.
SBB shares fell 7.7 percent after the Swedish company said on Monday it would defer paying dividends and not offer equity of 2.63 billion Swedish crowns ($259.1 million) after Standard & Poor’s Global downgraded its credit rating.
Limiting losses, Banco BPM rose 4.9 percent after Italy’s third-largest lender raised its profit target for this year and next, after posting stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings.
Fresenius Medical Care rose 1.4 percent after the German healthcare company reported a smaller-than-expected drop in adjusted operating income in the first quarter.