By Helen Reid
LONDON (Reuters) - European shares fell back on Wednesday, with all major benchmarks in the red after a car hit a group of soldiers in a Parisian suburb in what was said to be a deliberate act.
The falls followed U.S. and Asian market declines after North Korea said it was considering plans to attack Guam, which has a large U.S. military base.
Strong results from Scout24 and Novo Nordisk (CO:NOVOb) lifted those shares, but the pan-European STOXX 600 extended early losses to fall 0.7 percent. Euro zone stocks and blue-chips dropped 1 percent.
France's CAC 40 extended losses to hit a session low, down 1.2 percent after the car incident in Paris..
Germany's DAX was also down 1.1 percent as bond yields fell.
Gold miners Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) were among the only gainers on the FTSE, up 1.9 to 2.3 percent as investors rushed to the safety of gold.
Banks meanwhile suffered heavy losses, down 1.2 percent.
Results also drove some sharp moves lower.
Chemicals group Brenntag led fallers, down 5.5 percent after second quarter results undershot expectations. "M&A seems to be the main driver while organic growth remains unsatisfying," said Baader Helvea analysts.
G4S (CO:G4S) shares fell 4.7 percent despite the security group reporting first-half profit up 7.6 percent and saying its turnaround was on track. Stifel analysts pointed to operating cashflow being weaker year-on-year.
German flavours and fragrance maker Symrise fell 3.6 percent, with analysts pointing to margins missing estimates.
Overall, results season has been strong, analysts and investors said. Earnings growth for the MSCI Euro zone companies reporting this quarter is tracking at 15.7 percent, with 76 percent of results in so far.
"I still think there's more good news than bad news [in results] because you're still seeing underlying economies growing at a decent clip," said Andrew King, head of European equities at BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) Asset Management.
"On a longer term view you're now starting to see a break with the history of constant earnings downgrades," he added.
Scout24 was a stand-out performer, jumping 6.6 percent to a seven-month high after the German online classifieds company said it had won back customers in the second quarter. Its shares had fallen sharply after a broker downgrade last week.
The healthcare sector outperformed thanks to strong gains from the world's top maker of diabetes drugs, Novo Nordisk, up 3.9 percent after beating second-quarter profit forecasts.
Dutch oil firm SBM Offshore gained 4.7 percent, on track for its best day in more than a year, after its first-half results beat expectations with higher investments in deep sea projects.
(This story has been refiled to reflect July name change to BNP Paribas Asset Management from BNP Paribas Investment Partners, paragraph 13.)