Europe stocks lose ground as miners fall, with Fed minutes ahead

The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.3% to 333.75, but was off session lows as technology, telecom and health care shares advanced. The index ended Tuesday’s choppy session flat.

Among those at the bottom of the benchmark Wednesday were mining stocks, with the move coming as the U.S. dollar gained against major rivals. The euro was down 0.4% at $1.1265. A rising greenback tends to weigh on dollar-denominated commodities.

In the group, Anglo American PLC dropped 5.4%, Antofagasta PLC  lost 3.3%, Boliden SE gave up 1.4%, and Imersys SA shed 0.4%.

Gains for the dollar came after two Federal Reserve officials said Tuesday the central bank could raise interest rates as soon as June. The Fed’s minutes from its April meeting are due at 7 p.m. London time, or 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

The slump in mining shares also hurt the U.K.’s FTSE 100, which declined 0.6% to 6,129.23. Also on the British benchmark, Burberry Group PLC shares fell 2% as the luxury-fashion retailer posted an 8% drop in yearly profit.

The retailer said it’s undertaking a share buyback and a cost-cutting program to save at least 100 million pounds ($144.7 million) a year.

Indexes: Germany’s DAX 30 fell 0.4% to 9,848.43, and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.4% to 4,280.21.

Spain’s IBEX 35 was down 0.3% at 8,670.90, while Italy’s FTSE MIB shed 0.1% to 17,479.36.

Movers: Utility company Suez SA lost 2.4% after a ratings downgrade to neutral from outperform at Exane BNP Paribas.

Reinsurer Scor SE fell 5.1% after a ratings downgrade to underweight from hold at Jefferies.

Euronext NV rose 1.9% following an upgrade to neutral from sell at UBS, with the move coming after the exchange operator’s investor day last week. “Overall, we think management did a good job confidently detailing its revenue growth opportunities and incremental cost-cutting expectations,” said UBS.

Source: MarketWatch