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Aug 1 (Reuters) - European shares tracked Wall Street andAsian markets into the red on Thursday after the U.S. FederalReserve dampened hopes of future cuts in U.S. interest rates,while Shell's lowest profit in more than two yearsknocked 4% off the oil major's value.
The losses were limited, however, by other, more positiveresults, including from Barclays and Standard Chartered, as well as London Stock Exchange Group's $27billion merger with financial information firm Refinitiv.
The exchange operator, in whom Reuters News parent ThomsonReuters will take a 15% stake under the terms of thedeal, rose 3.6% in early trade.
By 0708 GMT the pan-European benchmark stock index STOXX 600had fallen 0.2%, with energy and mining giants thebiggest drag as oil, iron ore and copper prices dipped.
The Fed as expected cut interest rates by a quarter of apercentage point on Wednesday, but Chair Jerome Powelldisappointed investors by saying the move might not be the startof a lengthy campaign to shore up the economy against risksincluding global weakness.(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; editing by PatrickGraham)
