European Shares Fall on Cancellation of US-China Talks

By Investors Hub

European stocks fell on Monday as Beijing cancelled planned talks with the Washington and a new round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods kicked in, triggering fears of a protracted trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.

Downbeat business confidence data from Germany also weighed on markets. The corresponding index fell to 103.7 from 103.9 in August, survey data from Mannheim-based Ifo institute showed.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.37 percent at 382.87 in late opening deals after six consecutive sessions of gains.

The German DAX was losing 0.4 percent, while France’s CAC 40 index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 were moving down around 0.3 percent.

The British pound bounced back against the dollar after falling as much as 1.4 percent on Friday, its biggest single-day percentage loss since June 2017, as EU leaders turned down Theresa May’s Chequers blueprint at a summit in Salzburg, giving a major blow to her chances of reaching a deal post-Brexit.

Novartis slid half a percent. The Swiss pharmaceutical company announced that it plans to file ex-US for a new indication in ROP to bring transformative treatment to premature infants facing severe vision loss.

Roche Group shed 0.8 percent. The drug major announced the global availability of blood-based genomic profiling test, FoundationOne Liquid.

Shares of Sky Plc jumped nearly 9 percent in London after the media giant urged its shareholders to immediately accept a superior cash offer of 17.28 pounds by Comcast Corp.

Randgold Resources jumped 6 percent after it agreed merger terms with Canada’s Barrick Gold.

Travel operator Thomas Cook Group tumbled 3.2 percent. The company slashed its profit outlook “following unprecedented months of hot weather”. German peer TUI fell over 2 percent.

French grocery retailer Carrefour Group rose slightly after it denied having ever solicited Casino for merger talks. Casino shares declined half percent.

Volkswagen dropped 1 percent. Porsche will no longer offer diesel versions of its cars, becoming the first German auto maker to drop the engines in the wake of the emissions-cheating scandal.

BMW and Daimler also fell around 1 percent after carmakers and the German government representatives failed to reach a compromise on Sunday over how to tackle the problem of older diesel cars.