Associated British Foods : European shares down, health care sector weighs

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares fell on Thursday in early deals, weighed down by a drop among healthcare stocks after U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump targeted pharmaceuticals' drug pricing in a press conference.

The pan-European STOXX 600 <.STOXX> index was down 0.5 percent, and Europe's healthcare sector index <.SXDP> dropped 1.6 percent, the biggest sectoral faller.

Donald Trump on Wednesday commented on the need for competitive drug pricing, saying pharmaceutical companies were "getting away with murder" by charging high drug prices.

Swiss luxury goods group Richemont (>> Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA) was the top European gainer, jumping 8 percent after its trading update indicated a pick-up in demand for watches and jewellery. Shares in peer Swatch Group (>> The Swatch Group SA) also rose 5.4 percent.

Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 <.FTSE> was down 0.3 percent, with retailers Tesco (>> Tesco PLC) and AB Foods (>> Associated British Foods plc) top fallers after they reported results.

(Reporting by Helen Reid, editing by Kit Rees)

Stocks treated in this article : Tesco PLC, The Swatch Group SA, Associated British Foods plc, Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA