European Stocks End Four-Day Advance as Bank Shares Lead Losses

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks declined for the first time in five days, with cyclical shares leading losses, as investors assessed the longest run of quarterly gains since 2014.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.5 percent at the close, erasing an earlier advance of as much as 0.4 percent. Banks declined the most, followed by carmakers and insurers. The industry groups were among the best performers in the equity rally that began in November on bets for stronger global growth, and pushed the Stoxx 600 on Friday to its highest level since December 2015.

• The Stoxx 600 is entering April with a decline after posting its longest run of quarterly gains since 2014, and investors last week added the most money to European equity funds in a year.
• With a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping coming up, “this week will be all about reappraisal of the Trump trade into the new quarter and whether sufficient optimism and momentum remains,” Mike van Dulken, an analyst at Accendo Markets, wrote in a note.
• Germany's DAX Index dropped 0.5 percent, after briefly rising as much as 0.5 percent to surpass its 2015 record close.
• Among shares active on corporate news, Imagination Technologies Group Plc tumbled 62 percent after saying Apple Inc. will stop using its intellectual property for new products in 15 months to two years.

--With assistance from Elena Popina

To contact the reporter on this story: Aleksandra Gjorgievska in London at agjorgievska@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Namitha Jagadeesh, Richard Richtmyer