European Stocks Drop, Led by SAP; BP, Total Decline With Oil

European stocks fell for a fourth day, the longest losing streak since July, after Credit Suisse Group recommended trimming holdings of technology companies and as declining oil prices pushed energy shares lower.

SAP AG, the world's biggest maker of business-management software, decreased. BP Plc, Europe's second-largest oil company, and Total SA of France retreated. Vedanta Resources Plc paced a drop in mining stocks as copper fell to a two-month low in London.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 0.2 percent to 366.86 as of 1:54 p.m. in London. Technology companies have led the Stoxx 600's four-day slump, tumbling 6.2 percent, as Cisco Systems Inc. of the U.S. reported a ``dramatic'' decline in sales to financial and automobile companies.

Prices for technology companies ``have got overstretched,'' said Kevin Lilley, who helps manage about $2.5 billion at Royal London Asset Management in London. ``The oil price just doesn't look realistic, given demand and supply.'' Lilley went ``underweight'' technology shares last week.

U.S. index futures were little changed today after stocks last week fell to a two-month low. Asian stocks had their biggest decline in three months.

The dollar gained against the euro as technical charts signaled the U.S. currency had fallen too rapidly. The risk of European companies defaulting on their debt rose, according to traders of credit-default swaps.

National Markets

National benchmarks declined in 11 of the 18 western European markets. France's CAC 40 lost 0.3 percent and Germany's DAX decreased 0.4 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.2 percent. The Stoxx 50 was little changed, and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the euro region, sank 0.3 percent.

The Stoxx 600 dropped as much as 0.6 percent, before recovering some of its losses, after a warehouse fire in east London sent up a thick plume of black smoke. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said there was no suggestion that the fire was an act of terrorism.

SAP lost 1.2 percent to 34.92 euros. Alcatel-Lucent SA, the world's biggest maker of telecommunications equipment, fell 1.1 percent to 5.56 euros. Logitech International SA, the world's largest maker of computer mice, declined 2.8 percent to 37.8 Swiss francs.

Investors should ``modestly'' lower holdings of technology stocks on concerns that global growth will slow, strategists at Credit Suisse Group said.
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