Europe open: Markets lower as Sino-US trade optimism fades
European stocks were lower on Tuesday morning as the US blacklisted 28 Chinese companies ahead of upcoming trade negotiations, hitting hopes of a deal.
At 0850 BST, the Stoxx 600 was 0.3% lower at 381.96, as Germany's Dax dropped by 0.4% to 12,054.73 and the French CAC 40 fell by 0.3% to 5,505.79. London's FTSE 100 was flat at 7,196.86.
Hopes of a breakthrough in Sino-US trade talks faded slightly Washington's commerce department blacklisted 28 Chinese companies for alleged links to government human rights violations against Muslim minorities in the nation's Xinjiang region.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters to "stay tuned" for a response from Beijing as the government looks to safeguard its interests.
Meanwhile, German industrial output increased unexpectedly by 0.3% from July, according to figures released by Destatis, coming in higher than July's revised drop of 0.4% and beating forecasts of a flat reading.
Year-on-year production was still down 4% in August compared to a revised 3.9% drop in July, but this too was better than consensus expectations for a 4.3% fall.
Pantheon Macroeconomics chief eurozone economist Claus Vistesen said the figures were "a bit better" despite the fact that the third quarter as a whole was weak, while also warning that data suggested manufacturing growth will weaken further in the near term.
Among individual stocks, airlines Easyjet, Ryanair and Lufthansa were all lower, even as the former said it achieved a "solid" fourth quarter performance in the face of a difficult and disruptive environment.
London Stock Exchange Group was in the red after Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing abandoned its £32bn acquisition offer.
Shares in Qiagen tumbled after it warned on sales due to weak third quarter trading in China and confirmed that long term chairman and chief executive Peer Schatz will step down.
Nokia and Ericsson both gained after a US government report suggested that funding the two Nordic telecoms giants could help them to rival the dominance of China's Huawei.