European shares retreated for a second consecutive session on Tuesday as mixed earnings results and concerns about Greece's unresolved debt restructuring talks weighed on investor sentiment. Adding to downbeat sentiment, the International Monetary Fund warned that China's growth rate would drop abruptly in the event of a sharp recession in Europe.
The euro zone, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund must approve a 130-billion-euro bailout package with Greece before February 15 in order to prevent the eurozone member nation from defaulting on its debts when it faces repayment of 14.5 billion euros in bonds on March 20.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is down 0.29 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is moving down 0.43 percent. Around Europe, the German DAX, France's CAC 40, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Switzerland's SMI are moving down between 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent.
UBS AG is declining 0.7 percent after the Swiss lender reported a 76 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit and issued a cautious outlook. Xstrata Plc is declining 1.9 percent after the mining company unveiled an all-share merger of equals with its 34-percent stakeholder Glencore International Plc.
Air France is losing 1.9 percent in Paris after the French carrier said it expects to cancel up to 30 percent of its flights today because of a pilots' strike in protest over proposed changes to rules governing labor protests.
Lagardere is moving down 2.1 percent after the publisher reported fourth-quarter net sales of 1.95 billion euros, down 9.1 percent as reported, but stable on a like-for-like basis.
Deutsche Lufthansa is losing 2.2 percent in Frankfurt on a Wall Street Journal report that the carrier's cabin crew is taking legal action against the company's plans to use contract workers at Berlin's new airport.
Daimler is down 2.1 percent after the German automotive major said it has reduced the number of employee regulations to 1000 from the previous 1,800, according to the Financial Times Deutschland.
ArcelorMittal is rising over 2 percent as the world's largest steel maker reported earnings in line with estimates. BP Plc is down 0.9 percent. The oil giant hiked its quarterly dividend by 14 percent after reporting a significant increase in profit for the fourth quarter, helped by higher oil prices.
Elsewhere, most Asian shares closed lower on Tuesday as renewed fears over the possibility of a Greek default on its debt kept many investors at bay. China's Shanghai Composite index fell 1.7 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng eased marginally and Japan's Nikkei average edged down 0.1 percent.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 retreated half a percent after the Reserve Bank of Australia surprisingly kept interest rates on hold at 4.25 percent, despite the uncertain global economic outlook.
Commodities such as copper and crude are subdued and the euro fell against the dollar and yen, while the Dow futures are rising marginally.
On the macroeconomic front, France's merchandise trade deficit increased less than economists expected in December, data released by statistical office Insee showed. The trade deficit increased to EUR4.99 billion in December from EUR4.14 billion in November.
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