European shares dip from multi-year highs

Business & Markets 2013
Written by Reuters
Thursday, 09 May 2013 15:11
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PARIS (May 9): European shares fell in early trade on Thursday, halting
a sharp three-week rally to multi-year highs, with pharmaceutical stocks
trimming recent lofty gains.
GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca were both down 0.5 percent. The
sector has surged more than 20 percent over the past six months.
At 0706 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was
down 0.2 percent at 1,226.86 points, slipping from a near five-year high
hit on Wednesday, while the euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX 50 index
was down 0.6 percent at 2,768.81 points, retreating from a near
two-year high.
Technical momentum indicators have been signalling that the two
benchmark indexes were ripe for a retreat.
"We're seeing excessive optimism, with more and more retail investors
turning bullish, which is never a good sign," said Guillaume Dumans,
co-ahead of 2Bremans, a Paris-based research firm using behavioural
finance to monitor investor sentiment.
"The signal we get from our indicator is contrarian, so we expect a
pull-pack today."
Bucking the trend, Spanish oil group Repsol rose 1.5 percent, lifted by
results showing a forecast-beating 47 percent jump in adjusted net
profit. - Reuters