European Shares Retreat On China Concerns

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell in cautious trade on Monday, as investors avoided making big bets ahead of key U.S. inflation data as well as a trio of central bank meetings due this week.

Meanwhile, the relaxation of strict curbs has sparked concerns about a new wave of infections in China.

The pan European STOXX 600 fell 0.7 percent to 436.24 after climbing 0.8 percent on Friday.

The German DAX slipped half a percent, France's CAC 40 index eased 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.3 percent.

Danish shipping major A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S tumbled 3 percent after saying it has appointed Vincent Clerc as its new Chief Executive Officer, with effect from January 1, 2023.

Biotech firm Novozymes slumped nearly 11 percent while Chr. Hansen jumped 23 percent after they announced plans to merge.

Stellantis NV rose over 1 percent after it announced plans to halt operations at an assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, in February 2023.

Clariant AG lost 2.7 percent. The Swiss specialty chemicals firm announced impairment charges of around CHF 225 million related to its Sunliquid plant in Podari, Romania, for the fiscal 2022.

BP Plc and Shell were moving lower in London as oil prices extended losses, after having fallen around 11 percent last week.

London Stock Exchange jumped nearly 4 percent after Microsoft said it would buy about 4 percent stake in the U.K. bourse operator as part of a 10-year strategic partnership.

China-exposed luxury firms such as LVMH and Hermes International were moving lower in Paris after a top government health adviser warned that the epidemic in China is spreading rapidly and that it will be difficult to completely cut off the transmission chain.

Sanofi SA shares rose half a percent in choppy trade after the French drug maker said it was no longer in discussions to buy Horizon Therapeutics.

In economic releases, the U.K. economy rebounded at a faster-than-expected pace in October with strong contribution from services activity, official data revealed earlier today.

Monthly real gross domestic product expanded 0.5 percent in October, reversing a fall of 0.6 percent in September, the Office for National Statistics said.

GDP was forecast to gain 0.4 percent after additional bank holiday for the State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II weighed on September GDP.