Europe midday: Shares slip amid trade and EM concerns

Shares have turned lower following news that China is seeking to impose sanctions on the US after Washington ignored a ruling from the World Trade Organisation and 'market chatter' around what some observers say is a still poor outlook for emerging markets.

In the background meanwhile, most Asian bourses traded higher overnight, but not Hong Kong's Hang Seng, which entered into a so-called 'bear market' on Tuesday after extending its fall from its most recent peak to over 20%.

Investors were also waiting on the Argentine central bank's latest policy meeting scheduled for later on Tuesday.

As of 1147 BST the benchmark Stoxx 600 was dipping by 0.31% or 1.15 points to 374.36, alongside a dip in the French Cac-40 of 0.24% or 12.58 points to 5,256.79 and a retreat for the German Dax of 0.51% or 63.13 points to 11,922.91.

Euro/dollar meanwhile had turned around and was drifting 0.08% lower to trade at 1.15834.

Reuters reported that Beijing was set to ask the WTO for authorisation to levy sanctions on US-made goods after Washington ignored a ruling against $8.4bn of anti-dumping duties that it placed on Chinese goods in 2013.

Against that backdrop, Bloomberg quoted Bank of America-Merrill Lynch strategist, Tommy Ricketts, as saying: "If the EM currency crisis becomes global and cross-asset in nature, we think stress will stem from Europe, as it did from Japan in 1998, before finally reaching U.S. shores."

According to the ZEW institute, Ricketts wasn't alone in monitoring the risks to the euro area from EMs.

ZEW's closely-followed confidence index for Germany, which is based on a survey of analysts' opinions, improved by 3.1 points in September to reach -10.6 (consensus: -14.0).

"During the survey period, the currency crises in Turkey and Argentina intensified, while German industrial production and incoming orders were surprisingly low in July.

"[...] which may in part be attributable to the new trade agreement between the USA and Mexico," said ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach.

The economic calendar was otherwise very light on Tuesday.

Before the opening bell, INSEE reported a 12,500 person increase in French non-farm payrolls during the second quarter to reach 25.179m.

Separately, figures from Eurostat revealed a 0.4% rise quarter-on-quarter in euro area employment over the three months to June.

On the corporate side of things, steel giant ArcelorMittal increased its bid price for indebted Essar Steel India to roughly $5.8bn (£4.461bn), Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

In parallel, shares of Spanish lender Bankia were lower after the country's economics minister, Nadia Calviño, ruled out an imminent sale of the government's stake due to the stock's current low price.

According to the Financial Times, the top brass at Deutsche Bank are prioritising the reduction of the lender's funding costs following a surge in the same.