Mixed earnings reports end European stocks’ nine-day winning streak

European stocks declined, snapping a nine-day winning streak, amid mixed earnings reports.

Stocks on Wall Street fell, with results from bellwethers IBM and United Technologies weighing the most while Apple was also down ahead of earnings expected after the closing bell.

DUBLIN The ISEQ index ended the day down 0.6 per cent or 37.3 points at 6,465.40, in line with its peers. One analyst said things were weaker all round, with "reasonably thin" volume on the Dublin market.

Kingspan came under some pressure, and was one of the big fallers on the day, declining almost 3 per cent to close at €22.41.

A total of 48 million Bank of Ireland shares were traded with the stock ending the day flat at 37 cent.

Fyffes declined 1.4 per cent to finish the day at €1.38. Index heavyweight CRH was also down 1.4 per cent, closing at €26.50.

Independent News & Media was down 1.1 per cent to 18 cent.

Property investment trusts fared better, with Green REIT climbing 0.7 per cent to €1.57 and Irish Residential Properties REIT up 0.9 per cent at €1.10.

LONDON Britain's top stock index edged lower on Tuesday as a mixed set of corporate results and lingering concern over commodity price falls outweighed a rebound in gold-mining companies and a rally in car insurers.

Easyjet was the worst-performing blue-chip, shedding 3.2 per cent after Commerzbank cut the airline’s price target.

Gold-miners Fresnillo and Randgold were among the top performers, closing up 3.7 and 2 per cent respectively.

In other gainers, specialist car insurers Admiral, Direct Line and eSure rose by between 4.5 and 0.7 per cent after a closely watched AA index showed that British car insurance premiums jumped more than 5 per cent in the second quarter compared with the previous three months.

The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.3 per cent at 6,769.07 points after gaining 0.2 per cent in the previous session.

EUROPE European shares retreated on Tuesday from their six-week high in the previous session, with healthcare leading the market lower after Novartis reported quarterly incomes below analysts' expectations.

Novartis dropped 2.1 per cent after the Swiss drugmaker reported a weak performance by its eyecare division in the second quarter.

French distiller Remy Cointreau slipped 2.5 per cent after posting sales that missed analyst estimates.

Swedish entertainment broadcasting group MTG rose 5.9 per cent, the biggest gainer on the broader STOXX Europe 600, after it reported a smaller than expected drop in second-quarter core earnings.

The STOXX Europe 600 Healthcare Index was a top sectoral faller, down 1.5 per cent.

The Greek stock market remained closed, with capital controls still in place. Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 were each lower.

NEW YORK US stocks declined, after the Standard & Poor's 500 Index neared its record, as quarterly results from IBM and United Technologies disappointed investors.

IBM dropped 6.1 per cent in early trading, after sales fell for a 13th quarter. United Technologies lost 7.7 per cent after cutting its 2015 profit forecast.

Consol and Halliburton paced energy’s advance, up at least 3.8 per cent, as oil rose for the first time in five sessions.

Verizon Communications lost 2.5 per cent, the most since January, after quarterly revenue missed analysts' estimates and the company cut its 2015 sales outlook.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped 0.4 per cent to 2,120.24 at 12.06pm in New York, and was earlier within three points of an all-time high set in May.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 198.19 points, or 1.1 percent, to 17,902.22, dragged down by IBM and United Technologies which account for roughly 64 per cent of the drop.

Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters