LONDON — European shares edged lower on Wednesday, continuing the cautious regional trend this week.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.2 percent in early trade, with autos down 1.4 percent and tech shares up 1.1 percent.
The mixed trade for European stocks comes after markets retreated slightly on Tuesday, tracking risk-averse sentiment globally as investors assess whether last month’s rally should continue.
It’s a busy day for earnings in Europe, with Commerzbank, SocGen, BMW, Banco BPM, Siemens Healthineers and Veolia and Wolters Kluwer among the companies reporting before the bell.
Shares in Czech cybersecurity firm Avast jumped 42% after the UK competition regulator provisionally cleared its $8.6 billion sale to US company NortonLifeLock.
At the bottom of the Stoxx 600, Siemens Healthineers fell 7.5% after its earnings report, while BMW fell 5%.
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Overnight stocks in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly higher on Wednesday, with markets in mainland China leading gains despite Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, which is closely watched by Beijing.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying tweeted that Pelosi’s visit was a “major political provocation,” while a spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said it would conduct “a series of joint military operations around the island of Taiwan from the evening of 2 August”. .”
These operations include long-range combat firing in the Taiwan Strait and test firing of conventional missile firepower, the statement said.
On the data front, Eurozone producer prices and retail sales data for June will be released.
— CNBC’s Tanaya Machil and Abigail Ng contributed to this report.
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