While U.S. markets closed for the President's Day holiday, European stock markets closed lower today, with Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LSE:RB., Financial) and Daimler AG (XTER:DAI, Financial) driving the losing round.
Shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC's lost more than 7% after the company posted pretax profit increased 11% and revenue rose 21%, driven by a weaker pound. It posted pretax profit of 2.50 billion pounds ($3.51 billion) on revenue of GBP 11.51 billion.
In 2018, it expects revenue growth between 13% and 14%. Moreover, the company has raised its dividend to 97.7 pence per share, up from 95 pence the prior year.
Shares of Daimler lost ground after the company wouldn't comment on the ongoing investigations, but said it had been cooperating with the authorities.
Global Markets
The main European stock markets closed in negative territory. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 0.64%, France's CAC 40 slid 0.48%, Germany's Dax retreated 0.53% and Spain's Ibex 35 fell 0.26%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.97%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.97% and China's SSE Composite jumped 0.45%, while India’s BSE Sensex lost 0.69%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
