Europe midday: Xmas cheer in short supply as US fears dampen mood
European shares were lower on Friday as the continued slump in US and Asian markets overnight put a downer on any Christmas cheer investors may have been looking for.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 had slipped as all major European bourses fell into marginal red territory. The sell-off on Wall Street continued overnight as the Dow fell almost 2%. Investors are worried about a global economic slowdown, the continuing trade dispute between China and the US and a potential government shutdown in Washington.
Fears over an upward trend in US interest rates, which went up again this week, have also dampened sentiment, which was reflected in falls on Asian markets.
Sino-US relations weighed on sentiment after the US Justice Department filed charges overnight accusing two members of a Chinese cyber-espionage group of hacking into dozens of US tech and industry giants.
It has been alleged that the two individuals were operating in conjunction with the Chinese government, although this has been denied by Beijing.
Meanwhile, rising odds of a US government shutdown also dented the mood, as President Trump and congressional Democrats remained at odds over $5bn funding for his border wall with Mexico.
Dankse Bank and national peer Jyske Banke were both leading fallers on Friday.
Shares in Danske, at the centre of an international investigation into alleged money laundering, fell as it cut its 2018 outlook for the second time this year, citing challenging market conditions on financial markets.
Denmark's biggest lender said it expects net profit for the year of around DKK15bn, down from the DKK16bn-17bn previously forecast.
Delivery Hero shares led the risers after the world’s biggest online food delivery firm on Thursday said it was selling its German food delivery operations to Netherlands-based Takeaway.com for €930m (£840m).
The deal value includes €508m in cash and 9.5m shares in Takeaway.com worth €422m. The news pulled along shares in UK online delivery service Just Eat.
France’s Spie was in positive territory after announcing the sale of a German subsidiary.
Vodafone shares fell as the company said it was Vodafone confirmed on Friday it was sacking PricewaterhouseCoopers over litigation concerns, though it was not doing so immediately.
Rumours had been swirling for several days that the FTSE 100 telecoms giant would seek a new auditor, given the threat of litigation from PwC against Vodafone, over the failure of mobile retailer Phones 4U.
“While PwC are assessed as independent and will continue as the group's statutory auditors for the year ending 31 March 2019, it is uncertain how this matter may evolve and whether future developments may give rise to risks to audit independence,” the Vodafone board said in its statement.