Europe: Shares dip as US tax bill gets muted reception

[LONDON] European stocks followed Wall Street and Asian bourses lower on Thursday in a muted response to the US Congress's approval of a long-anticipated tax overhaul in the country.

Analysts said the US tax cuts were already baked into stock prices.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.3 per cent, with all major European bourses and sectors trading in negative territory.

Spain's IBEX was down 0.3 per cent, in line with Germany's DAX but slightly better than the Paris CAC 40 , down 0.4 per cent, as the Spanish government hopes a regional election will strip pro-independence parties of their control of the Catalan parliament.

REUTERS