BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were moving lower on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump called an abrupt end to negotiations with Democrats over additional Covid-19 relief, saying they won't resume until after the election.
With Joe Biden's lead widening in the polls and Trump urging Congress to approve paycheck protection and airline support, the downside, however, remained limited.
In addition, investors are pinning hopes that whoever wins the November 3 presidential election will still introduce a fiscal stimulus bill.
The pan European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.1 percent to 365.36 after ending little changed with a positive bias on Tuesday.
The German DAX slid 0.3 percent, France's CAC 40 index edged down 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was marginally lower.
TUI AG shares tumbled 5 percent. The travel and tourism company said Birgit Conix, a member of the Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer, will leave the company as of 31 December 2020.
Luxury car maker BMW edged down 0.6 percent. The company reported that its third-quarter total vehicle sales increased 8.6 percent from last year.
Dialog Semiconductor rallied 2 percent after saying it expects to report higher than anticipated revenue in its third quarter.
Telefónica Deutschland fell about 1 percent and Deutsche Telekom shed 0.8 percent after they have signed a ten-year contingent contract for an early extension of existing cooperation in the fixed network.
Danone edged down half a percent after the French food group said it would sell its remaining 500 million euro ($586.60 million) stake in Japan's Yakult Honsha Co.
Total SA gave up 1.2 percent. The oil and gas company announced the acquisition of a 20 percent stake in the Eolmed floating Offshore wind farm pilot project in France.
Supermarket chain Tesco rallied 2.2 percent as it reported a higher pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2021 on rising revenue.
EasyJet lost nearly 5 percent. The low-cost airline announced that Moya Greene DBE, non-executive director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee, has notified the Board that she will not be standing for re-election at the company's next AGM.
In economic releases, German industrial production dropped 0.2 percent on a monthly basis in August, in contrast to a 1.4 percent rise posted in July, data from Destatis revealed. Economists had forecast an increase of 1.5 percent.
On a yearly basis, industrial production decreased 9.6 percent following a 10 percent drop in July.
U.K. house prices increased at the fastest pace in more than four years in September, data from the Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax and IHS Markit showed.
House prices grew 7.3 percent on a yearly basis in three months to September, following a 5.2 percent rise in three months to August. On a monthly basis, house prices were up 1.6 percent but slightly slower than the 1.7 percent increase logged in August.
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