0I2R.L Share News (0I2R)

(Sharecast News) - Stocks on the Continent were moving slightly lower in early trading, despite news that China was moving ahead with pledges to further open its economy.
Echoing some analysts' caution, notwithstanding recent positive news around US-China trade relations, David Madden at CMC Markets UK was pointing out to clients the "huge" gap between stocks, which were at all-time highs, and commodity prices.

"Given the slowdown in the global economy, it is fair to say that stocks have lofty valuations also due to loose monetary policy," Madden said.

On Monday morning, China's ministry of finance announced a one-year long reduction in tariffs for 859 different types of products.

The move was aimed at meeting Beijing's recent pledge to open up the Chinese economy more, but was unrelated to the ongoing US-China trade talks.

And on Saturday, the US President, Donald Trump, tweeted that he expected a trade deal to be signed "very shortly".

Against that backdrop, as of 0828 GMT, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was dipping 0.14% to 417.82 and the French Cac-40 was losing 0.22% to 6,008.07, while the German Dax had slipped 0.01% to 13,317.49.

It was a similar story in Milan, where the FTSE Mibtel was shedding 0.45% to 23,894.53, and in Madrid the Ibex 35 was off by 0.27% to 9,648.20.

No major economic reports were scheduled for release in the Eurozone on Monday.

However, a call by a top European Central Bank official for deeper analysis into the factors that were holding down inflation, before doubling down on stimulus, caught investors' attention.

In an interview with Holland's De Volkskrant, ECB governing council member, Klaas Knot, also said he was increasingly concerned by the impact from lower for longer interest rates, including the popularity of complex credit structures.

Low interest rates might last for another five years, Knot reportedly said.

On the corporate side of things, Atlantia was pacing losses amid a growing legal tussle between its tollway operator unit, Autostrade per L'Italia, and the government in Rome over the payout that it might receive should its concessions be revoked. The legal battle followed the collapse of a bridge on a motorway in Genoa run by Autostrade, 16 months before, that left at least 43 dead.

Financials were also under selling pressure, with stock in Old Mutual, Natixis, Commerzbank and Aegon all lower.

Going the other way, shares of UAE-focused healthcare provider, NMC Health, were bouncing back after the firm announced plans for an independent third-party review of its accounts following the recent short-selling attack.

Stock in Bayer was higher at the start of the week, after the US Environmental Protection Agency waded into the court battle around the chemical giant's Roundup weed killer, saying that a lower court ruling against the company should be reversed.

CAC 40 - Risers

Atos (ATO) 75.76 +0.94%

Accor (AC) 41.37 +0.57%

Pernod Ricard (RI) 161.22 +0.54%

Dassault Systemes (DSY) 147.66 +0.48%

Kering (KER) 582.83 +0.47%

Essilorluxottica (EL) 138.07 +0.41%

Saint Gobain (SGO) 37.26 +0.35%

Safran (SAF) 140.68 +0.31%

Michelin (ML) 110.88 +0.30%

Sanofi (SAN) 91.11 +0.27%

CAC 40 - Fallers

Renault (RNO) 43.31 -1.45%

BNP Paribas (BNP) 53.08 -0.90%

Peugeot (UG) 22.07 -0.84%

Societe Generale S.A. (GLE) 31.18 -0.69%

Schneider Electric (SU) 91.79 -0.64%

ENGIE (ENGI) 14.67 -0.54%

Orange. (ORA) 13.24 -0.51%

Danone (BN) 74.48 -0.51%

AXA (CS) 25.28 -0.49%

Credit Agricole (ACA) 13.00 -0.47%