European shares hit by Bayer, Lufthansa; FTSE shines

European shares slipped on Tuesday as grim forecasts from German giants Bayer and Lufthansa soured sentiment, while a battered pound helped London's blue-chip index outperform for a second day.

Bayer slipped 4.4 per cent as it became the latest agricultural supplies company to be affected by flooded farms in the United States and by trade disputes, saying its full-year earnings target has become harder to reach.

Taking other airlines down with it, Germany's Lufthansa dropped 3.5 per cent after posting a decline in second-quarter earnings and saying that the European market was likely to remain challenging this year.


A GfK survey also showed German consumer morale worsening for the third month in a row heading into August as trade disputes and a global economic slowdown bit in Europe's biggest exporter.

Combined, that pushed Germany's main stocks index 0.2 per cent lower by 0713 GMT, while the pan-European stocks benchmark fell 0.2 per cent.

London's blue chip FTSE 100 index touched 11 month highs, helped by a 3 per cent jump in shares in energy giant BP.