European shares flat, investors sift through earnings deluge

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July 29 (Reuters) - European stocks opened largely flat as
investors parsed through a deluge of earnings reports from major
lenders like Deutsche Bank and Barclays, while waiting to hear
from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The pan-European STOXX 600 slipped 0.1% by 0716
GMT, oil & gas and chemical leading the
declines, while a 1.2% jump in retailers helped counter
the losses.

German lender Deutsche Bank AG rose 1.3%, while
Britain's Barclays Plc slipped 1.6% as they set aside
more funds to protect for potential loan losses as the
coronavirus pandemic takes its toll, but both showed improvement
at the investment bank.

UK retailer Next jumped 8.9% and French luxury group
Kering rose 5.3% after reporting a
smaller-than-expected decline in quarterly sales.

Chemicals giant BASF SE was down 4.2% after
saying it still could not provide guidance for full-year sales
and earnings due to uncertainty over the economic fallout from
the pandemic.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard
Orr)