Europe open: Stocks dip as investors wait on ECB

Stocks across the Continent are drifting lower ahead of a key meeting of the European Central Bank and with investors in a holding pattern as they wait for greater clarity on the state of US-China trade talks and a report on US non-farm payrolls the next day.

At its policy meeting on Thursday, the ECB's Governing Council is expected to unveil its latest staff projections and possibly announce or hint that another round of cheap loans for the bloc's lenders is in the works.

But despite ECB chief Mario Draghi's proven ability to surprise financial markets, this time around his best efforts may have been foiled by a Bloomberg report the day before which had strongly hinted at such a possibility, raising the possibility of a 'buy the rumour-sell the fact' reaction to any announcement, analysts at UniCredit Research said.

"With a lack of any major data from the UK or US, the ECB will have the full attention of global markets today, as Mario Draghi responds to a period of continued weakness from the eurozone. Amid falling growth, and below target inflation, there is little reason for the bank to raise rates anytime soon," said IG's Josh Mahony.

"Mario Draghi has a talent for devaluing the euro, and with the recent weakness in the eurozone, many will believe that this is simply another opportunity to send the single currency lower yet again."

As of 0933 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx was down by 0.34% at 374.20, alongside a drop of 0.44% for the German Dax to 11,535.1 and a decline of 0.31% to 374.30 on the Cac-40.

Euro/dollar meanwhile was unchanged at 1.1325, while front month Brent crude oil was up by 0.75% at $66.49 a barrel on the ICE.

On the economic front meanwhile, there was a fair bit of 'market chatter' around the spat between Rome and Washington surrounding the former's stated intent on signing a memorandum of understanding with Beijing supporting its Belt and Road initiative during a visit to the country by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In other news, Eurostat confirmed that euro area GDP grew at a 0.2% quarter-on-quarter pace over the last three months of 2018, as expected, with employment in the single currency bloc up by 0.3% over that same time frame.

Shares of Hugo Boss meanwhile were trading down by 3% after the iconic fashion retailer delivered a smaller than expected dividend payout.

German auto parts maker Continental was also moving lower, despite posting better-than-expected full-year earnings before interest and taxes of €4.03bn, after the company said business year-to-date had been slow.

Grifols purchased a minority 26% stake in Shanghai RAAS Blood Products in a non-cash deal, in exchange for the latter becoming its exclusive distributor in the country and with the Spanish firm agreeing to provide technology and know-how in exchange for fees.

The Barcelona-based business will also give RAAS a 45% stake in its US subsidiary, which was valued at $1.9bn.