European shares fall as Sweden’s SBB drags

May 9 (Reuters) – European shares fell on Tuesday, with Sweden’s SBB leading declines after delaying its dividend payment while investors remained wary ahead of crucial upcoming US economic data releases.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.2% by 7:06 GMT, with investor focus on US consumer prices data due later this week for cues on whether the Federal Reserve can pause future rate hikes.

SBB dropped 7.7% after the Swedish landlord on Monday said it would delay its dividend payment and no longer carry out a 2.63 billion Swedish crowns (USD 259.1 million) rights issue after S&P Global cut its credit rating to junk.

Limiting losses, Banco BPM climbed 4.9% after Italy’s third-largest bank raised its profit target for this year and the next, following stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings.

Fresenius Medical Care advanced 1.4% after the German dialysis specialist reported a smaller-than-expected drop in its first-quarter adjusted operating income.

(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar)