PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The major European stock markets were unable to sustain early support on Tuesday, losing steam as the day progressed to finish modestly under water after moving higher in the previous session.
Simmering tensions between the United States and China provided negative sentiment after the Trump administration announced on Monday it will further tighten restrictions on Huawei Technologies in a bid to limit the company's access to electronic components.
Adding to the air of uncertainty were new Brexit talks and Wednesday's release of minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting.
The markets have now finished in the red in three of the last four trading days.
Germany's DAX slipped 38.90 points or 0.30 percent to 12,881.76, while London's FTSE sank 50.82 points or 0.83 percent to 6,076.62 and the CAC 40 in France fell 33.88 points or 0.68 percent to 4,938.06.
In Germany, Wirecard surged 6.21 percent, while Covestro soared 2.68 percent, E.On.E plunged 1.07 percent, Deutsche Post tumbled 0.58 percent, Deutsche Bank sank 0.57 percent, Volkswagen lost 0.49 percent, thyssenkrupp added 0.42 percent, Daimler fell 0.28 percent, Siemens rose 0.21 percent, Heidelberg Cement gained 0.12 percent and Deutsche Borse dipped 0.10 percent.
In London, Persimmon skyrocketed 8.00 percent, while Rightmove plunged 2.69 percent, Associated British Foods tumbled 1.89 percent, Standard Life Aberdeen skidded 1.50 percent, Royal Dutch Shell sank 1.25 percent, British American Tobacco shed 0.96 percent, Antofagasta advanced 0.89 percent, Vodafone dropped 0.44 percent and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust gained 0.22 percent.
In France, Airbus plunged 3.09 percent, while Veolia Environment tumbled 2.91 percent, Engie skidded 2.10 percent, Societe Generale retreated 1.83 percent, Credit Agricole dropped 1.43 percent, Carrefour and Sodexo both sank 1.35 percent, BNP Paribas lost 1.12 percent, Vivendi fell 0.59 percent and Peugeot slid 0.13 percent.
In economic news, Germany's engineering industry association, VDMA, said this morning that machinery exports declined sharply in the second quarter amid the coronavirus pandemic. Machinery exports decreased 22.9 percent on year in Q2 following a 5 percent fall in the first quarter. In the first six months of 2020, machinery exports were down 14.1 percent.
Also, Sweden's industrial inventories increased in the second quarter, data from Statistics Sweden showed on Tuesday. Industrial inventories rose by SEK 2.1 billion in the second quarter compared to a revised increase of SEK 5.8 billion in the previous three months.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX