Europe open: Stocks lower amid rising trade tensions between China and US
Stocks have started the morning lower, with trade and political risks foremost on investors' minds.
On Friday evening, as expected, Beijing responded to the Trump administration's decision to impose tariffs on $50bn-worth of Chinese goods, stoking concerns that the US might up the ante further, with an escalating cost for the global economy.
According to Oxford Economics, as things now stood, the combined US and Chinese tariffs would only reduce the two countries' combined GDP growth by 0.1%-0.2% in 2018 and 2019, but that would rise to between 0.3-0.4% if they were followed by levies on a another $100bn-worth of goods by each side.
"The current position on tariffs is unlikely to cause a full-blown rout for markets, but the prospect of further escalation and reprisals could cause considerable damage to the global economy, increasing the risks and anxiety," said Rebecca O'Keeffe at Interactive Investor.
As of 1030 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was falling by 0.63% or 2.45 points to 386.88, alongside a retreat of 0.99% or 129.26 points to 12,881.26 for the German Dax and a drop of 0.89% or 49.56 points to 5,452.32 on the Cac-40.
The FTSE Mibtel on the other hand was off by just 0.31% or 67.97 points at 22,118.56.
Meanwhile, and on the political front, concerns were that a growing row between German government coalition partners CDU and CSU over immigration might see Chancellor Angela Merkel ousted.
For later in the session, three Fed speakers were scheduled to take to the podium, starting from 1245 BST, including the heads of the Atlanta and San Francisco Fed banks and Vice-President William Dudley.
Shares of Siemens were lower despite news that the engineering group had secured a £1.5bn contract to build 4 trains for the Piccadilly Line.