Tsogo Sun Holdings Ltd.: Witold Bahrke

Witold Bahrke: SABMiller Plc lost 2.3 percent after saying it is considering options for the sale of its $1.04 billion stake in Tsogo Sun Holdings Ltd. Rio Tinto RIO Group fell 3.1 percent after reporting first-quarter iron-ore output that missed forecasts. L Oreal SA gained 1.1 percent after posting higher first-quarter European revenue, according to Bloomberg. You have this huge uncertainty from the geopolitical front, which is pulling the market in a negative direction, Witold Bahrke, who helps oversee $55 billion as a senior strategist at PFA Asset Management in Copenhagen, said in a phone interview. There is a lack of conviction among investors. Sentiment is still tilted to the negative direction after the escalation in Ukraine at the weekend and European stocks declined, erasing their gains for the year, after a report that Russian troops entered towns in eastern Ukraine, and as German confidence data missed economists forecasts. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1 percent to 326.58 at the close of trading. The gauge rebounded yesterday amid better-than-estimated U.S. retail sales data and earnings from Citigroup Inc., after last week erasing most of the years gains as investors sold technology shares on valuation concerns. The equity benchmark has declined 0.5 percent so far this year. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.