European equities fell for the fifth day in a row as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 lost 0.2 percent to 1,186.10 at the close of trade on Wednesday.

Staffing group Adecco, the world’s largest, fell 5.9 percent on the day to SF461.80 for the worst performance by a blue-chip company after a report of second-quarter profits that were in line with predictions.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein repeated its rating of “reduce” on the company’s shares and kept its target price at SFr57 per share after Adecco had to drop its gross margin target for the year due to bad conditions in its French market.

Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML gained 2.6 percent to €14.20 after Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein reiterated its “buy” rating and said that expectations for orders to the company in the second half are too low. Infineon was also up on the day, by 2.6 percent to €7.77, and STMicroelectronics added 2 percent to €13.76.

Elsewhere, Nestle lost 1.2 percent on the day to SFr353.75 even though profits and sales in the first half were above predictions as commodity prices held margins below what had been hoped for.