(Bloomberg) -- European stocks were little changed, halting a new-year rally that was boosted by industries seen as benefiting the most from stronger economic growth.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1 percent at the close, paring an intraday slide of as much as 0.5 percent. Commodity producers were among the worst performers, after helping propel the benchmark into a bull market on Tuesday. Next Plc dragged retailers lower, down 14 percent after lowering its annual profit forecast and predicting a difficult year ahead.
- The Euro Stoxx 50 Index also closed little changed, paring earlier gains of as much as 0.3 percent. The euro-zone benchmark has been in overbought territory, as measured by the relative-strength index, for 14 straight days. That's the longest run since 1999.
- The Stoxx 600 Banks Index climbed 0.6 percent, capping its biggest four-day gain in almost a month. While the measure is up more than 50 percent since a July low, European funds remain underweight on the sector, according to HSBC Holding Plc's equity strategists including Amit Shrivastava.
--With assistance from Namitha Jagadeesh To contact the reporter on this story: Blaise Robinson in Paris at brobinson58@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Namitha Jagadeesh, Todd White
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
