LONDON: European equities were led lower on Wednesday by French retailer Casino, which reported slower sales growth, and Pearson, which fell following troubles with one of its educational technology projects.
Casino fell 4.4 percent after Societe Generale and Natixis cut their target prices for the stock a day after it reported slower sales growth.
Pearson fell 3.9 percent on a report saying the Los Angeles Unified School District was seeking a refund from Apple over a bungled $1.3 billion iPad plan with a curriculum from Pearson. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.8 percent at 1,637.11 points by 1454 GMT.
The index gained 0.6 percent on Wednesday to reach levels not seen since 2000.
Germany's DAX index, down 1.6 percent, underperformed the wider market, with analysts saying that some investors took profits following a sharp rally.
The DAX rose 22 percent in the first quarter, against a 15 percent gain for the wider market.
"The DAX is just taking a breather after a stellar run on the back of a depressed euro, ultra-low interest rates and the quantitative easing programme.
Valuations are still reasonable and we see a 10 percent upside for the index in the next six months," Lorne Baring, managing director, B Capital Wealth Management, said. "However, Greece is still a risk for the European stock market. But in the end there has to be some compromises."
Greece's ATG share index fell earlier in the day on a Financial Times report saying the International Monetary Fund had rebuffed a request from the country to delay loan repayments. Greece later denied the report. The Greek share index rose 1.1. percent after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Reuters he was "firmly optimistic" his government would reach an agreement with foreign creditors by the end of April despite friction over issues such as pension and labour reform.
Among European fallers, Diageo, the world's largest spirits maker, fell 3.4 percent after saying net sales in the three months to March 31, the third quarter of its financial year, fell 0.7 percent.
Bucking the trend, Unilever rose 3 percent after reporting better-than-expected sales for the first quarter.
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