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Unilever ( UL ) to spin off ice cream unit, cut 7,500 jobs

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Atos down as talks with Airbus over BDS unit fall through

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Euro zone Q4 wages data, Germany ZEW surveys due 1000 GMT

(Updated at 9:18 GMT)

By Khushi Singh

March 19 (Reuters) - European stocks inched lower on

Tuesday and were on track for the fourth straight session of

losses, hurt by a decline in technology and financial services

shares, ahead of key euro zone economic data due later in the

day.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1% by

9:18 GMT, following a 0.4% decline in technology shares.

The financial services index lost 0.5%, weighed down

by a 1.6% fall in Partners Group after the Swiss

investment firm reported a flat annual profit.

Oil and gas shares led sectoral gains with a 0.7%

rise.

"The increasing intensity of Ukrainian missile attacks on

Russian oil refineries has put a floor under oil prices ...

negative sentiment towards demand growth, which was keeping a

cap on oil has also loosened," David Morrison, senior market

analyst at Trade Nation, said.

On the data front, investors will keep an eye out for

fourth-quarter euro zone data on wages and labour costs, along

with Germany's ZEW economic sentiment survey for March, all due

for 1000 GMT.

However, the focus remains on the U.S. Federal Reserve's

monetary policy decision on Wednesday, after last week's

hotter-than-expected inflation data prompted traders to reduce

their bets for a June interest rate cut.

The U.S. central bank is widely expected to hold rates, with

all eyes on its economic projections and how many rate cuts it

estimates for the year.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank looks poised to

initiate the rate-cut cycle in June after a string of

policymakers hinted at such a possibility, including ECB Vice

President Luis de Guindos.

Property platform Hemnet rose 6.0% to the top of

STOXX 600 after Jefferies raised its rating on the stock, while

HelloFresh shares dropped 2.6% after Barclays

downgraded the German meal-kit maker.

Unilever ( UL ) rose 3.8% after the company said it plans

to spin off its ice cream unit into a standalone business, as

the consumer goods group announced a new cost-savings programme

that would cut 7,500 jobs.

Atos shares fell 19.1% after the company said

Airbus had called off discussions about potentially

buying the French software firm's BDS cybersecurity unit.