(Reuters) -European shares slipped on Tuesday, dragged by Nestle after the Swiss food giant ousted Chief Executive Laurent Freixe a year into his tenure, while investors awaited an inflation report later in the day.
The STOXX 600 index lost 0.1% and was at 550.48 points as of 0707 GMT, with the food and beverage sector leading sectoral declines with a 1.2% drop.
Nestle lost 3.2% as Freixe was removed for failing to disclose a romantic relationship with a subordinate.
The shock departure of its CEO threatens more volatility for the KitKat maker, which has struggled in a tough consumer environment and disruptive U.S. tariffs.
The wider Swiss blue-chip index lost 0.3%.
Among others, Kering gained 3.8% after brokerage HSBC upgraded the Gucci owner to “buy” from “hold”, while Partners Group gained 3.37% after reporting results for the first half of the year.
Focus was also on the first estimate on eurozone inflation for the month of August, which economists polled by Reuters expect to increase 2%.
(Reporting by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
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