European stocks couldn't hold early gains Monday, with the technology sector suffering the brunt of Wall Street-inspired earnings concerns, AP reported. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index closed 0.3 percent lower at 6,218.40, the French CAC-40 index dropped 0.6 percent to 5,579.78 and the German DAX Xetra 30 index dropped 0.9 percent to 6,687.31. Among tech companies, handset maker Nokia, due to report its earnings Thursday, dropped over 1 percent in Helsinki, and chipmaker STMicroelectronics, which will unveil its earnings after the close of U.S. trading on Tuesday, dropped 2.1 percent in Paris. Credit Suisse shares gained 0.7 percent after it announced plans to buy back up to 8 billion Swiss francs (US$6.4 billion; ¤4.9 billion) in shares over three years, returning to investors much of the cash it received from selling off its Winterthur insurance division. Also in the banking sector, Citigroup agreed to buy ABN Amro's mortgage group for an estimated US$3 billion (¤2.3 billion), a deal encompassing 1.5 million customers. ABN Amro shares dropped 1.3 percent. Analysts said the sale was expected. Shares of Royal Philips Electronics slioupama revealed that it has sold its 15.35 percent in Scor to HSBC Holdings and UBS. Swatch Group climbed 2.3 percent after the watch maker said annual revenue rose 12.3 percent to a record 5.05 billion Swiss francs (US$4 billion; ¤3.1 billion). Its luxury watches unit posted the strongest sales growth, the company said, adding it expects «above-average» growth in operating profit, though currency effects in the second half and a high gold price held down margins.
