- Market players are largely following corporate earnings.
- U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost his third bid to force a general election on December 12 – but he will attempt to get his bill approved once again in the coming days.
- The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that Washington is examining whether to extend tariff exclusions on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports.
European stocks traded lower on Tuesday morning as traders monitored earnings, progress in U.S.-China trade discussions and a fresh push from U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson for an early general election.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.3% lower shortly after markets opened.
Oil and gas stocks as well as technology were among the top losing sectors in early deals.
Market players are largely following corporate earnings. BP has reported a 41% drop in third-quarter net profit on the back of weaker oil prices and weather impacts. BP shares fell 0.5% in early deals.
Furthermore, the Finnish firm Stora Enso sank to the bottom of the European index, down by more than 7%. The packaging firm reported lower-than-expected sales and operating profit.
Meanwhile, shares of Swedbank dropped 2% in early deals. This followed news that the Estonian financial regulator open a misdemeanor probe against Swedbank’s Estonian subsidiary, Reuters reported.
General election
Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost his third bid to force a general election on December 12 on Monday, after falling short of the two thirds majority needed in Parliament. He will now attempt to introduce a bill requiring a simple majority.
The push for early polls comes after Johnson accepted the EU’s three-month extension to the U.K.’s Brexit deadline, pushing the departure date to January 31.
Sterling traded 0.14% lower against the dollar in early European deals.
Meanwhile, on the trade front, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Monday that Washington is examining whether to extend tariff exclusions on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports, having revealed last week that the world’s two largest economies are close to signing a “phase one” trade deal.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/europe-markets-traders-monitor-trade-uk-election-push.html
