European Stocks Decline; Credit Suisse, AstraZeneca Lead Drop

European stocks fell, led by financial companies, after Credit Suisse Group posted the first profit decline in a year as it wrote down $1.9 billion in fixed-income securities and leveraged loans.

Barclays Plc and HSBC Holdings Plc also dropped. AstraZeneca Plc slipped after the U.K.'s second-largest pharmaceutical company said Canadian generic-drug maker Cobalt Pharmaceuticals Inc. asked U.S. regulators to approve a copy of its Crestor cholesterol treatment.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 0.2 percent to 387.7 at 8:31 a.m. in London. The Stoxx 50 and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the euro region, both declined 0.3 percent.

``I am not sure I see encouraging signs,'' said Andrew Cole, who helps oversee about $48 billion at Baring Asset Management in London. ``Conditions in the banking environment are pretty tough. There is a sense that we are through the worst. That is probably overly optimistic.''

Asian stocks rose after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates and U.S. economic growth accelerated, bolstering confidence in the region's biggest export market. U.S. stock-index futures fell.

Benchmarks decreased in 11 of the 15 western European markets that were open. France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 0.6 percent, and Germany's DAX slid 0.1 percent. Austria was closed for a holiday.

German two-year government notes fell for a second day, sending yields to the highest in two weeks, as signs of accelerating inflation fuel speculation European Central Bank policy makers will raise interest rates. The risk of owning European corporate bonds rose, according to traders of credit- default swaps.

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