European shares slip on profit-taking

LONDON: European stocks retreated from overbought territory Tuesday amid profit-taking, while the euro gained strength from revised higher growth forecasts for the European Union.
The British capital's benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 0.37 per cent to 6,812.84 points mid-afternoon, after closing at a 14-year high Monday.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 slid 0.40 percent to 9,670.01 points and the CAC 40 in Paris dipped 0.32 per cent to 4,404.90 points.
The euro gained to 1.3758 to the dollar, from 1.3735 late Monday. The European Commission revised its 2014 and 2015 growth forecasts up in a sign it saw the European Union's modest recovery as sustainable.
Meanwhile: Wall Street stocks opened slightly higher despite a report showing a dip in US home prices in December and mixed earnings reports from the retail sector.
Five minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20.30 (0.13 per cent) to 16,227.44.
Meanwhile: Asian markets finished mostly lower on Tuesday, but Chinese equities tumbled.
There were concerns of China's "cooling property market and lending curbs hampering consumer growth (and) spilling over to the second trading day of the week," said CMC Markets analyst Toby Morris.
Gold was fixed at 1,332.75 dollars early Tuesday, from 1,334.75 late Monday.