Europe midday: Politics weigh on stocks

Stocks in Europe are drifting lower heading into the weekend with a multitude of political concerns weighing on investor sentiment, ranging from the upcoming US presidential elections, through to Brexit and US-China relations.

Linked to the former, overnight the US Congress failed to approve another round of fiscal stimulus worth $500-700bn focused on unemployment insurance and small firms.

Brexit was also weighing on the mood in markets with the latest reports indicating that the Prime Minister could face a revolt from within his own ranks if he attempts to break the withdrawal bill signed with the European Union.

"The pound is on the back foot yet again, with a UK-Japan trade deal failing to lift spirits in a week dominated by Brexit anxiety," said IG senior market analyst Josh Mahony.

"Meanwhile, the US has once again failed to pass a fresh coronavirus aid bill, leaving little hope for a breakthrough."

As of 1430 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was drifting lower by 0.03% to 367.35, alongside a dip of 0.33% for the German Dax to 13,161.87 whie the FTSE Mibtel was down 0.32% at 19,757.98.

In parallel, euro/dollar was up by 0.22% to 1.1841 while front-dated Brent was falling by 0.85% to $39.72 a barrel on the ICE.

There was little in terms of fresh economic data in Europe.

In Germany, the Federal Office of Statistics confirmed that consumer prices in the euro area's largest economy dipped by 0.1% year-on-year in August.

Meanwhile, in Spain, August CPI was revised up by a tenth of a percentage point to reveal an annual drop of 0.5%.