Europe: Shares fall as G-20 fails to strike new measures

[LONDON] European shares retreated from a three-week high on Monday and were on track for their third-straight month of losses as a weekend meeting of the G-20 group of leading economies failed to strike new, concrete measures to boost growth.

The Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers declared on Saturday they needed to look beyond ultra-low interest rates and printing money to shake the global economy out of its torpor, with a communique flagging a series of risks to world growth, including volatile capital flows and a sharp fall in commodity prices.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down one per cent in early trading after ending 1.6 per cent stronger on Friday. It has fallen more than 4 per cent this month and is on track for its third-straight month of losses.

However, Morrisons rose 5.5 per cent after Amazon struck a wholesale supply deal with the British supermarket that will help the online retailer step up its food offering in Britain with fresh and frozen products.

REUTERS