European Markets Fall as Investors Await a “Major Catalyst to Revive the Uptrend”

“European stocks retreated, following yesterday’s rally for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, as investors awaited a report on American factory orders. U.S. index futures and Asian shares climbed.

Fresenius Medical Care AG plunged the most in more than 4 1/2 years as the U.S. Medicare program proposed cutting spending on dialysis. Telefonica Deutschland Holding AG fell 3.8 percent as Commerzbank AG lowered its recommendation for the mobile-phone operator. Dialog Semiconductor Plc rose 4 percent after the German maker of chips used in Apple Inc.’s iPhone agreed to buy IWatt Inc. for as much as $345 million.

The Stoxx 600 slipped 0.6 percent to 286.55 at 12:15 p.m. in London. The equity benchmark advanced yesterday as euro-area factory output contracted in June less than estimated andJapanese manufacturers turned optimistic for the first time since the third quarter of 2011. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.3 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.9 percent.

“Markets need a major catalyst to revive the uptrend,” said Benedict Goette, chief executive officer of Compass Capital AG in Zurich, which helps oversee about 700 million Swiss francs ($738 million). “We expect that the correction will continue.”

The Stoxx 600 advanced 1.7 percent last week as China sought to ease a cash crunch. The gauge still lost 5.3 percent in June after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank could reduce stimulus measures if the U.S. economy improves in line with its forecasts.

Factory Orders

In the U.S., a Commerce Department report at 10 a.m. in Washington will show that orders placed with U.S. factories rose 2 percent in May, according to the median forecast of 61 economists in a Bloomberg survey. They rose 1 percent in April….”

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