European shares retreat as mixed earnings weigh

LONDON, Oct (KOSDAQ: 039200.KQ - news) 25 (Reuters) - European shares slipped back from multi-year highs on Friday hit by some weak earnings updates from leading blue-chip companies.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which hit a fresh 5-year high of 1,291.93 points this week, fell 0.3 percent to 1,281.79 points by 0705 GMT.

The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index also declined by 0.5 percent to 3,022.64 points.

A 4 percent fall at France's Schneider Electric (Other OTC: SBGSF - news) took the most points off the FTSEurofirst 300 index, after Schneider (BSE: SCHNEIDER.BO - news) cut its forecasts while truckmaker Volvo also slumped 6 percent after posting a deeper-than-expected fall in quarterly earnings.

"Earnings-wise, it's been a very mixed bag. If anyone misses, they get hit at the moment," said Terry Torrison managing director at Monaco-based McLaren Securities.

"I think we have to have a breather before we go higher again. We're looking overbought in the short-term but I'm still bullish going into the end of the year," he added.