European Stocks Drop After Abe Speech Disappoints

European stock markets opened with broad-based losses on Wednesday, taking a cue from a weak trading session in Asia where Japanese stocks slumped after a speech from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe failed to meet expectations.

Abe revealed plans to attract foreign funds and boost wages and investment, but dodged some of the tough decisions needed to fix the economy, analysts said.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.5% to 298.10. Shares of Tesco PLC gave up 2.6%, after the supermarket retailer said U.K. comparable sales dropped in the 13 weeks to May 25. Shares of Carrefour SA lost 3.5%, after HSBC lowered the firm to underweight from neutral. Among country-specific indexes, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.7% to 6,513.93, while France’s CAC 40 index dropped 0.6% to 3,903.63. Germany’s DAX 30 index lost 0.5% to 8,256.60.

Marketwatch