Europe open: Stocks stumble in early trading after heavy selling in Asian session
Stocks have begun the morning lower amid talk of 'profit-taking' and 'sector rotation' as investors react to the prospect of tax cuts and tighter monetary policy in the States, alongside caution towards the outlook for growth in China and heavy selling on the Japanese and Hong Kong bourses.
"Calls for a negative start come after a negative close on Wall St (S&P’s first 3-day losing streak since Aug) was followed by an even weaker session in Asia (8 day fall; longest since 2015), the tech sector still in flux regarding US tax reform after such a long rally. Commodities, however, may be the architects of UK blue-chip sentiment after moves in Copper and Oil," said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.
As of 0950 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was down by 0.63% or 2.57 points to 384.17, alongside a fall of 0.98% or 127.03 points to 12,921.82 for the German Dax and a decline of 0.60% or 132.84 points to 22,283.15 on the FTSE Mibtel.
In parallel, euro/dollar was dipping 0.04% to 1.1825.
From a sector standpoint, the Stoxx 600's technology gauge was retreating by 1.04% or 4.58 points to 434.13 with another sub-index linked to Basic Resources down by 1.07% or 4.57 points to 422.85.
Further afield, Japan's Nikkei-225 gave back 1.97% to trade at 22,177.04 while the Hang Seng erased 2.14% to 28,224.80.
To take note of, as part of their drive to combat pollution, overnight Chinese authorities extended some of their curbs on the production of ferroalloys, carbide and silicon carbide.
German factory orders grew by 0.5% month-on-month in October (consensus: 0.2%), despite a sharp 1.2% drop in those coming from the euro area, according to the Ministry of Finance.
Later in the day, investors were watching for the release of consultancy ADP's monthly estimate of US private sector payroll growth at 1315 GMT, which was seen by many as a lead indicator for the official US non-farm payrolls data released two days afterwards.
It would be followed a quarter of an hour later by US labor productivity and unit labour cost figures for the third quarter.
On the corporate side of things, German outfit Delivery Hero announced plans to raise €686m in fresh equity from investors to finance acquisitions.
Also in Germany, an attorney for the US president said Deutsche Bank had not received any subpoena for the financial records of the president or his family as part of the FBI's ongoing inquiry into Russian activities during and around the US elections.