Stock market today: Dow in fresh record close as Powell signals rate cut incoming
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Oct 14 (Reuters) - European shares opened lower on Monday,
as optimism on the progress made in the Sino-U.S. trade talks
was offset by growth fears following weak data from Beijing and
fresh Brexit uncertainty.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX was down 0.7% at 7:12
GMT after recording its best session since January on hopes of a
trade deal and a Brexit agreement.
Late on Friday, United States and China outlined the first
phase of a trade deal and suspended this week's scheduled U.S.
tariff hikes. But existing tariffs remain in place and officials
on both sides said much more work is needed before an accord
could be agreed. In the latest sign of weakness in the Chinese economy, data
showed a further contraction in exports and imports in
September. Germany's DAX .GDAXI , dominated by firms with exposure to
China, slipped 0.5%. All country indexes were in the red.
Britain's domestically-focused FTSE mid-caps .FTMC ,
typically sensitive to Brexit news, gave up 1.3% after Friday's
more than 4% surge.
Swiss pharmaceutical companies Roche Holding AG ROG.S and
Novartis AG NOVN.S dropped more than 1% each, and were the
biggest drags on the main index, after a report that the United
States was considering tariffs on Swiss pharmaceutical products.