European shares fall as HSBC leads financials lower

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - European equities slipped in early trading on Tuesday, with HSBC leading the regional banking index lower after reporting a 62 percent slump in its annual pre-tax profit.

Europe's biggest bank dropped 6 percent and was headed for its biggest one-day fall since August 2015 after its results fell far short of analysts' estimates as it took hefty writedowns from its restructuring.

HSBC was the biggest decliner in the European banking index , which fell 2 percent and put pressure on the broader stock market. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was quoted 0.2 percent lower by 0828 GMT.

Some other stocks also weighed on the market.

John Wood Group slumped 9.5 percent, the top faller in the STOXX 600 index, after announcing results and saying that oil and gas markets continued to present challenges and that it remained cautious on the near term outlook.

On the positive side, InterContinental Hotels Group rose nearly 2 percent after reporting a slightly better-than-expected yearly profit rise, while both BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) and Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) gained 1.5 percent after their encouraging results. (Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Catherine Evans)