BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks traded lower on Tuesday as trade tensions between the U.S. and China escalated, and traders monitored ongoing political upheaval in France.
China's commerce ministry said it remained open to talks, but the U.S. cannot seek dialogue while threatening new measures.
'If you wish to fight, we shall fight to the end; if you wish to negotiate, our door remains open,' according to an official statement.
Also, Beijing reportedly said it was Washington's expansion of curbs on Chinese firms in late September that ratcheted up tensions and drove it to further tighten its grip on the critical minerals.
Investors also digested a slew of weak regional data and braced for an address by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as well as earnings from Wall Street's biggest banks.
Germany's consumer price inflation rose for the second consecutive month in September, as initially estimated, final data from Destatis revealed earlier today.
The consumer price index rose 2.4 percent year-on-year following a 2.2 percent increase in August. The statistical office confirmed the estimate published on September 30.
Inflation, based on the EU measure of harmonized index of consumer prices or HICP, accelerated sharply to 2.4 percent, as estimated, from 2.1 percent in August.
The German ZEW economic sentiment index came in at 39.3, below expectations for a reading of 40.5 in October.
Elsewhere, the U.K. unemployment rate rose slightly in the three months to August, the Office for National Statistics reported.
The ILO jobless rate rose slightly to 4.8 percent from 4.7 percent in the preceding period.
The number of vacancies decreased 9,000 to 717,000 in the three months to September. Payrolled employees decreased 31,000 sequentially in the June to August period, data showed.
The pan European Stoxx 600 dipped half a percent to 564.06 after rising 0.4 percent on Monday.
The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both fell by 0.8 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was marginally lower, taking comfort from a weaker pound after the release of softer than expected labor market data.
Germany's Deutsche Telekom gained 1 percent after announcing a major collaboration with Comcast Technology Solutions.
Dutch digital mapping specialist TomTom surged 8.3 percent after Q3 profit topped expectations.
THG rallied 3.6 percent in London as the online beauty and nutrition group delivered its strongest organic quarterly sales increase in four years.
Bytes Technology Group shares plunged 10 percent. The software and services specialist reported a decline in interim profit after Microsoft's reduction of certain Enterprise Agreement incentives took effect in January 2025.
GSK rose 1 percent after its Shingrix vaccine received approval in China.
Homebuilder Bellway climbed 5 percent after it announced a £150 million share buyback program.
Oil & gas major BP declined 1.3 percent after saying weak oil trading performance hit the company's quarterly profit.
French advertising giant Publicis Groupe rose about 1 percent after beating Q3 expectations and raising its full-year guidance.
Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson soared 14 percent after reporting a better-than-expected rise in quarterly earnings.
Swiss fragrance and flavor maker Givaudan added 1.2 percent after quarterly sales matched market expectations.
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