European Stocks Lower on Worsening Sentiment as Balfour Beatty, RWE Decline

European stocks drifted lower on Monday, as a fall in euro-area economic confidence cast further doubts about the pace of recovery. Meanwhile continued political unrest in Hong Kong weighed on the country’s benchmark index along with lenders including HSBC Holdings plc and Standard Chartered plc. In London, U.K. infrastructure services company Balfour Beatty slumped more than 20% after it announced a further profit shortfall at its U.K. building services unit, while in Frankfurt RWE AG dropped after the company said it’s still awaiting U.K. regulatory approval for its plan to sell oil and gas business RWE DEA AG to a consortium of Russian investors. Among risers was Air France-KLM in Paris, following the end of a two-week pilot strike as the carrier proceeded with talks over the future of its Transavia low-cost unit.