Europe: Shares slip as caution prevails ahead of critical US data

EUROPEAN shares slipped on Monday, as investors avoided big bets ahead of a long-awaited jobs report from the US that could offer clarity on the health of the world’s largest economy.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed down 0.54 per cent at 571.68 points. Other regional indexes also declined, with Germany’s DAX down 1.2 per cent.

Worries that an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve may not be imminent and that technology shares are overvalued had sparked a global selloff last week; equities in Europe logged their biggest daily loss in over a month on Friday.

Risk appetite this week is likely to be tested by the September US jobs report, due on Thursday, and an earnings report from global AI bellwether Nvidia, due on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Japan moved to tamp down an escalating dispute with China over Taiwan that has prompted Beijing to urge citizens to halt travel to its East Asian neighbour.

“The biggest issue for Europe is this sort of war of words that we’ve seen between China and Japan over Taiwan. We’re seeing the luxury sector, Chinese-related stocks are coming under pressure because of that,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.

European luxury stocks such as UK’s Burberry and France’s LVMH fell, losing 6.6 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.

Financial stocks including banks and insurers also weighed on the Stoxx index on Monday. Retail sector fell 2.3 per cent, with JD Sports down 4.7 per cent.

Among individual stocks, Saab rose 2.5 per cent after the company signed a 3.1 billion euro (S$4.7 billion) fighter jet deal with Colombia.

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US: Wall Street indexes fall sharply; investors brace for jobs data, Nvidia results

British advertising giant WPP’s shares rose 11 per cent after a report said it had attracted takeover interest from French rival Havas and some private equity firms.

FLSmidth & Co fell 6.4 per cent after the Danish industrial company announced CEO Mikko Keto would be stepping down and leaving.

Also, the euro zone economy will grow faster than expected in 2025, the European Commission forecast on Monday

Additionally, euro area benchmark Bund yields dropped, partially reversing gains from the previous session, as markets acknowledged it would take time to accurately gauge the economy while US agencies clear a backlog of data. REUTERS