BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - German stocks fell in cautious trade on Thursday as a raft of Chinese data came in below estimates and investors awaited a pivotal BoE meeting for direction.
Earlier in the day, the Swiss National Bank maintained its expansionary monetary policy and upgraded its inflation projections.
The benchmark DAX was down 35 points or 0.28 percent at 12,517 in late opening deals after rising by 0.2 percent in the previous session.
Munich Re edged up 0.3 percent. The reinsurer warned that losses from Hurricane Harvey and Irma could mean it might miss its profit guidance of 2.0 billion euros - 2.4 billion euros for the year 2017.
German exchange operator Deutsche Boerse slid half a percent after it agreed to pay a fine of EUR10.5 million ($12.5 million) related to an insider trading probe.
Automaker Volkswagen gained 0.3 percent after announcing it would recall 4.86m vehicles sold in China due to potential issues over air bags. Rival Daimler rose 0.2 percent and BMW added 0.3 percent.
Europe's passenger car sales grew 5.6 percent year-on-year to 865,047 units in August, up from July's 2.7 percent increase, industry data showed today.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX