Europe open: Markets lower as Trump faces impeachment inquiry

European stocks were broadly lower on Wednesday morning as the impeachment probe into President Donald Trump by US Democrats led to worries about more political instability.

As of 0847 BST, the Stoxx 600 was down 0.7% at 387.06 as Germany's Dax fell by 0.6% to 12,227.90 and the French CAC 40 dropped by 0.9% to 5,578.96. Meanwhile, London's FTSE 100 was 0.6% lower at 7,249.63.

The impeachment inquiry into Trump will examine allegations that he pressured Ukraine's president into investigating the son of political rival Joe Biden.

Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson said previous instances of impeachment proceedings had led to instability for equities and the dollar, but added that he could not see the process getting beyond the Republican-dominated Senate.

Meanwhile, Trump used his speech at the UN General Assembly to attack Chinese trade practices, which dampened investor hopes of a speedy resolution to the US-Sino trade war.

"Not only has China declined to adopt promised reforms, it has embraced an economic model dependent on massive market barriers, heavy state subsidies, currency manipulation, product dumping, forced technology transfers and the theft of intellectual property and also trade secrets on a grand scale," he said.

In London, MPs were set to reconvene after the UK Supreme Court ruled Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to prorogue parliament was unlawful, with opponents now calling for his resignation.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said it was "not immediately clear" what would be achieved now with the resumption of parliament.

"It is more likely that this time will be wasted with political chicanery instead of striving to break the impasse," he said.

Among individual stocks, Electricite de France was the top faller on the Stoxx 600 after it warned of possible delays to its construction of nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point, UK, and raised the estimated cost by as much as £2.9bn.

Sainsbury's climbed as the supermarket giant backed its full year outlook and registered a slight increase in retails sales excluding fuel, though it said profits were harmed by unseasonal weather.

Dufry was also among the top risers after the Swiss travel retailer's concession contract for duty-free shops in 25 Spanish airports was extended by up to five years.

(Writing by Frank Prenesti; Editing by Michele Maatouk)