Europe open: Markets lower following Sino-US progress, weak Chinese data
European stocks were lower on Monday morning as investors digested Sino-US trade developments from the weekend, while weak China import and export data highlighted the impact of tariffs.
At 0900 BST, the Stoxx 600 was down 0.8% at 388.45, as the German Dax fell by 0.6% to 12,435.56 and France's CAC 40 dropped by 0.8% to 5,621.79. London's FTSE 100 was 0.6% lower at 7,202.44.
In Sino-US trade negotiations, President Donald Trump said that the initial phase of a trade deal will be completed within three to five weeks and would result in $40bn - $50bn of Chinese purchases of American agricultural products.
Washington also delayed an increase in tariffs on $250m-worth of Chinese goods which had been scheduled to come into force on Tuesday, though planned tariff hikes scheduled for December remain in place.
London Capital Group analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said: "The progress in US-China trade negotiations should improve the investor sentiment across the board. But given how fast the wind can change direction, investors will likely prevent from crying victory too soon."
"Chinese news, for example, didn’t refer to the outcome of last week’s negotiations as a ‘deal’, to avoid fuelling expectations too fast, too soon."
Meanwhile, data from China showed a 3.2% drop in September exports compared to a year beforehand, while imports fell by 8.5% during the same period.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 3% decline in exports, while imports had been forecast to decrease by 5.2%.
Analysts from Pantheon Macroeconomics said tariff hikes from the start of the month were partly to blame for the weak data, adding that they expect poor domestic demand will continue and exports are likely to remain in the doldrums.
Among individual stocks, Finnish oil refiner Neste Oyj was lower after stating it is experiencing the failure of multiple IT systems, either through a cyber attack or a malfunction.
Roche Holding and Novartis were both in the red following reports that the United States was considering tariffs on Swiss pharmaceutical products.