(Bloomberg) -- European stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday, reversing early gains, as defensives including health-care and food and drinks shares declined on disappointing corporate earnings.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1%, with health-care the worst-performing sector after Bayer AG cut its guidance, sending its stock down 2.4%. Diageo Plc fell 5.6% and dragged food-and-beverage shares lower after its organic sales growth disappointed.
European stocks had rallied on Monday on strong manufacturing data, after giving up a fourth monthly gain in a row in the final sessions of July. The Stoxx 600 has been trading in a tight range since hitting a three-month high, and is struggling to break above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
“It's becoming increasingly difficult to work out clear trends on the stock markets,” Comdirect Bank AG strategist Andreas Lipkow said. “The fluctuations in the topics and the resulting re-balancing are simply too large.”
Among the top performers on Tuesday, BP Plc jumped 6.5% after posting a narrower loss than expected on the back of strong oil trading results, even as it cut its dividend. That boosted energy shares to the best performance among Stoxx 600 groups.
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