European Shares Retreat As Growth Worries Mount

(RTTNews) - European stocks slipped into the red on Wednesday as investors reacted to disappointing service sector activity data from China and looked ahead to the release of Fed meeting minutes later in the day for directional cues.

Closer home, Eurozone Services PMI was finalized at a five-month low of 52.0 in June, down from May's 55.1.

The Composite PMI stood dropped to a six-month low of 49.9 from May's 52.8.

Elsewhere, a survey showed U.K. private sector continued to grow in June, but at the slowest pace since March.

The pan European STOXX 600 was down half a percent at 459.17 after ending flat with a positive bias in the previous session.

The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both fell around half a percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.6 percent.

China-exposed luxury firm LVMH fell about 1 percent and Kering tumbled 2.3 on China growth jitters.

Evotec SE, a drug company, jumped 3.2 percent. The German company announced that its unit Just - Evotec Biologics, Inc. has secured a second contract from the US department of defense for $74 million.

Impellam Group soared 8 percent after the British talent acquisition and managed workforce solutions company confirmed that it is in discussions with HeadFirst Global in relation to a possible offer by HeadFirst.

Keller Group jumped 11.6 percent. Ahead of its interim results for the half year ended June 30, the geotechnical specialist contractor said that trading has been strong in the first half and it expects a record performance during the period.

Building materials specialist SIG slumped 10 percent after warning on profits. Investment bank Numis was little changed despite warning of lower deal volumes in a deteriorating market.