European shares dip as earnings disappoint

LONDON: European shares dipped on Wednesday as corporate earnings failed to lift sentiment soured by trade tensions, as the United States prepares to begin collecting tariffs on another $16 billion in Chinese goods.

At 0716 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.3 per cent with the heaviest losses in Frankfurt where the DAX lost 0.4 per cent.

Trading updates from Danish drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Lundbeck and Switzerland's Vifor Pharma shares losses of 4.4 per cent, 10 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively.


Shares in French supermarket retailer Casino also fell heavily, down 9 per cent after broker Bernstein cut the stock to "underperform".

Among top performers, Nokian Tyres jumped 5.5 per cent after beating earnings expectations and Dutch bank ABN Amro added 4.4 percent after it reported second-quarter profits.