STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Biotechs hit as UK small caps fall

The FTSE Small Cap Index falls 0.4 percent while the junior-listed FTSE AIM All Share Index retreats 0.8 percent, broadly tracking a 0.8 percent drop on the blue-chip FTSE 100 index.

The FTSE 250 mid-cap index falls 1.2 percent.

Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB.L - news) declines by 2.9 percent, as brokerage N+1 Singer says it has decided to place its forecasts on the company under review following the company's final results statement on April 10.

"Oxford BioMedica reported 2013 full-year results yesterday highlighting that it has cash sufficient to fund company activities into Q3 2014. As a result, funding is likely to become strained in the very near term unless a new source of finance is identified," write N+1 Singer analysts.

An overnight sell-off on biotechnology stocks on the United States' Nasdaq index also weighs on small-cap UK companies in that sector as well, with International Biotech falling by 4.7 percent while Biotech Growth Trust retreats by 4 percent.

Reuters messaging rm://sudip.kargupta.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net