European Shares Slightly Lower in Cautious Trade

By Investors Hub

European stocks were slightly lower in cautious trade on Tuesday as the Euro rose against the Dollar on speculation over the ECB’s future course of action and investors awaited the Catalan President Puigdemont’s key address to regional Parliament on independence.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.1 percent at 389.83 in late opening deals after rising 0.2 percent in the previous session.

The German DAX was moving down 0.2 percent and France’s CAC 40 was declining 0.1 percent while the UK’s FTSE 100 was rising 0.2 percent.

The Pound surged against the euro after British Prime Minister Theresa May told MPs the U.K. is preparing for a ‘no deal’ Brexit, if talks with EU fail.

Spanish financial services firm CaixaBank fell over 2 percent and Banco Santander declined 1.8 percent ahead of the key speech by Catalonia’s leader Carles Puigdemont.

Swiss fragrance and flavours maker Givaudan rallied 3.7 percent after reaffirming its 2020 targets.

Capita shares jumped over 2 percent in London. The outsourcing firm has named former Amec boss Jonathan Lewis as its chief executive officer with effect from December 1.

Vedanta Resources fell 2.3 percent after unveiling its second-quarter and half-year production results.

Dassault Aviation tumbled 3 percent on news that its Falcon 5X is facing new delays.

LVMH share rose 2.2 percent after the French luxury goods firm reported a 14 percent increase in revenues for the first nine months of 2017.

In economic releases, German foreign trade surplus increased in August, as exports grew faster than imports, data from Destatis showed.

French industrial production declined unexpectedly in August, after rebounding in the previous month, statistical office Insee said.

British industrial production grew 0.2 percent month-on-month in August, slower than the 0.3 percent increase seen in July, official data showed.

Another report showed that the UK visible trade deficit rose to GBP 14.24 billion in August from GBP 12.82 billion in July.