Glencore drops after 2023 core earnings shrink
Carrefour raises dividend after 2023 profit jumps
Swiss private bank EFG FY profit soars
STOXX down 0.2

Feb 21 Reuters European shares slipped on Wednesday hurt by banking shares following a drop in shares of HSBC on a disappointing earnings report, while investors braced for the Federal Reserve39;s last meeting minutes for any clues on the central bank39;s rate outlook.

HSBC tumbled 8.4 to record its biggest oneday drop since April 2020, after a shock 3 billion charge on its stake in a Chinese bank, taking the shine off its record annual profit.

The broader banks index fell 1.1 after the dive in the lender39;s shares.

Investors are focusing on the weak Q4 results, even though the bank increased its share buybacks and boosted its full year dividend to the highest level since 2008, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

The panEuropean STOXX 600 index edged 0.2 lower, also bogged down by a 0.8 loss in healthcare stocks, which eased from a 10month high hit in the previous session.

French vouchers company Edenred slipped 11.5 to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after news its Italian unit was being investigated by the public prosecutor39;s office in Rome over an allegedly fraudulent public tender launched in 2019.

Fresenius Medical Care fell 5.5 as analysts flagged a weak outlook for patient volumes from the German dialysis specialist.

Earnings and updates from companies across the continent have been mixed for…