European shares slip as automobile, real estate losses weigh, US GDP data in focus

European shares fell on Thursday, led by losses in real estate and automobiles and parts stocks following a sharp selloff at Wall Street in the previous session, while investors awaited more economic data from the U.S. for further clues on the global interest rate path.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.3% by 0817 GMT, on track to snap a two-day streak of gains.

In a broad market selloff, shares of automobile and parts led the declines, falling 0.3%, while rate-sensitive real estate stocks slipped 0.6%.


Focus will now shift to the final estimates of U.S. third-quarter GDP and the weekly jobless claims report later in the day for more clues on Federal Reserve's stance on much-awaited rate cut decisions.

In corporate news, Swisscom shares lost 0.9% after report that the telecom firm is weighing a bid for Vodafone's Italian business early next year.

The broader telecommunications index was down 0.2%.

Commerzbank topped the STOXX 600, rising 2.9% after it received approval from the European Central Bank to buy back up to 600 million euros ($656.88 million) in shares.