European shares slip from 20-month highs; Hugo Boss sinks

European shares slipped slightly from the 20-month highs they hit in the previous session, as investors locked in some profits following some underwhelming company results.

Europe's STOXX 600 index was down 0.2 per cent by 0725 GMT. France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX fell 0.3 and 0.1 per cent, retreating from their highs.

Hugo Boss shares fell 6 per cent, with traders citing like-for-like sales slightly underperforming expectations. The German fashion house added to signs of a pick-up in the luxury sector, reporting a better than expected profit boosted by strong sales in Britain and China.

Dialog Semiconductor shares slid 2.9 per cent at the open after its main client Apple reported a surprise dip in iPhone sales.

They had plummeted 14 percent in April on fears over Apple bringing some of its components in-house. Peer STMicro was a top faller on Italy's blue-chips, down 1.6 per cent.

German bluechip automakers Daimler and BMW were also on the backfoot after a disappointing set of April auto sales in the US Daimler shares fell about 1 per cent.

Gains among healthcare stocks supported the index, with Novo Nordisk and Fresenius both up 4.6 and 2.7 per cent, respectively after upping 2017 profit forecasts in their first-quarter results. Fresenius shares touched a record high.

Finland's Nokian Tyres was a top faller, down 4.8 per cent after it missed on operating profit in its first-quarter results.

Overall, first-quarter earnings are expected to increase 10.5 per cent from the first quarter of 2016, or 6.2 per cent excluding the energy sector, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Of 111 companies having reported earnings so far, 70.3 per cent exceeded analyst estimates; above the 49.5 per cent of beats in a typical quarter.