STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Carrefour dips after Goldman downgrade

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11:56GMT 05Jan2009-Carrefour dips after Goldman downgrade

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Shares in France's Carrefour (CARR.PA) drop 1.3 percent in a rising market after Goldman Sachs cuts its rating to "neutral" from "buy" on the world's second biggest retailer in the wake of the company's profit warning in mid-December.

"We continue to expect the consumer environment to be challenging into 2009 and given the lack of near-term visibility and the significant deterioration that Carrefour experienced in the fourth quarter of 2008, we cut our estimates further," Goldman Sachs analysts write in a note.

"Carrefour's focus on maintaining its price competitive position and market share, while credible, may prove to be challenging in the current environment and if achieved is likely to be at the expense of margins."

Carrefour lost 48 percent in 2008, while France's blue chip index CAC 40 .FCHI dropped 43 percent and the DJ Stoxx retail index .SXRP shed 44 percent.

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