LIVE MARKETS-Utilities and miners drag, Nestle drives Zurich to new record

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UTILITIES AND MINERS DRAG, NESTLE DRIVES ZURICH TO NEW RECORD

European shares got off to a weaker start on Thursday, dragged down by a pullback in miners .SXPP after Wednesday’s sharp rebound. Utilities .SX6P also fell sharply following a disappointing update from Centrica CNA.L, with sentiment in the sector also hit after Italy approved a hike in corporate taxes on energy firms to help cut power bills, pushing heavyweight Enel ENEI.MI down as much as 4%.

In Zurich, the defensive SMI .SSMI rose for a fifth straight session, up 0.5% to a new record high, supported this time by better‑than‑expected sales growth at Nestle NESN.S, which has recently been hit by infant formula recalls across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

The region-wide STOXX 600 .STOXX fell 0.2% from Wednesday's record high. Ex-dividends in London pushed the FTSE 100 .FTSE down 0.3%.

(Danilo Masoni)

EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPEAN FUTURES MIXED, AS EARNINGS DRIVE MOVERS CLICK HERE

ASIA HOLIDAYS AS US, IRAN WORK TO AVERT CONFLICT CLICK HERE