Precision Castparts surged 19 percent on the news that Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway would acquire the maker of aircraft equipment for $235 a share, in an all-cash deal worth around $37.2 billion.
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China devalued its currency by 1.9% against the dollar on Tuesday.
“There are concerns about the pressure on earnings from European companies exposed to China over the next six months”, said Dennis Jose, a strategist at Barclays.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 slipped 0.49 percent to 11,548.00 points and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.22 percent to stand at 5,184.21.
The Shanghai Composite Index ended little changed at 3,927.91 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.1 percent to 24,498.21.
The PBOC said in a statement that it would aim to keep the exchange rate at 6.2298 yuan per US dollar, down from 6.1162, and would try to allow the currency to depreciate by 2%. The economic sentiment reading was down from the previous month and below expectations.
Carmaker BMW fell 2.7 percent while luxury goods group Swatch and LVMH both weakened by more than 3 percent.
“We have reduced our exposure to European export-led sectors, such as carmakers”, said Francois Savary, chief strategist at Swiss bank Reyl. Delta Lloyd NV tumbled 15 percent after reporting a drop in solvency ratio, a measure of the insurer’s ability to absorb losses.
However, the Athens stock market – which has consistently underperformed this year amid Greece’s debt problems – rose after Greece and its global lenders reached a new bailout agreement.
Elsewhere, staffing company Adecco fell sharply after its second-quarter results missed expectations.
However, shares in Finnish cranemaker Konecranes surged more than 20 percent after Konecranes agreed on a merger with U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF – news). peer Terex.
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The talks between ministers and the ECB, the global Monetary Fund and the European Stability Mechanism aim to finalise the list of new reforms required of the Greek government in exchange for a lifeline of up to 86 billion euros ($94 billion).
