MILAN (Reuters) - Earnings updates and dealmaking activity drove the biggest share price moves in Europe on Wednesday as the broader market followed U.S. stocks lower following a strong start of the year.
Britain's Informa (L:INF) dropped 5.4 percent after it made a paper and cash offer to buy UK events organiser UBM (L:UBM), which shot up 16 percent.
Luxury fashion brand Burberry (L:BRBY) and educational publishing company Pearson (L:PSON) were among the top fallers in Europe after disappointing trading updates.
Their losses along with weakness in the heavyweight financial and healthcare sectors dragged the pan-European STOXX 600 (STOXX) index down 0.3 percent by 0814 GMT. The UK's FTSE (FTSE) also fell by 0.3 percent.
British contractor Interserve (L:IRV) tumbled 10 percent after the Financial Times reported that government ministers are "very worried" and have set up a team of officials to monitor the company following the collapse of competitor Carillion.
Tech (SX8P) was among the few sectors in positive territory, underpinned by a 3.6 percent surge in ASML (AS:ASML).
The Dutch chipmaking equipment supplier posted better-than-expected net profit in the fourth quarter as customers asked for early delivery of products as semiconductor demand booms.
Despite Wednesday's decline, the STOXX remains close to the 2 1/2 year high hit early this month on confidence over the region's economic recovery and the upcoming earnings season.
"Conditions for a recovery of European equities are there but the over-extension of gains on the S&P 500 (SPX) represent a risk in the short term," said Anthilia Capital fund manager Giuseppe Sersale.