Europe open: Shares lower ahead of ECB rate decision

European shares were lower at the open on Tuesday, following a weaker session in Asia as investors awaited a European central bank interest rate decision later in the week.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.48% to 517.34 in early deals with all major bourses lower.

In India, there was a sharp equities sell-off as early vote counting trends suggested Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP-led alliance was likely to fall short of the landslide projected by exit polls. India's BSE index was down 7.32%.

There was a sharp fall in oil prices with Brent crude down 1.34% to under $78 per barrel as prices crashed to four-month lows on Monday after Opec+ nations revealed they would gradually phase out production cuts after September. West Texas Intermediate was 1.6% lower at $73 a barrel.

Shares in oil majors fell, with BP, Shell, Eni, TotalEnergies, Equinor and Aker BP all declining on the news.

On the equities front, British American Tobacco fell 1.5% as the cigarette maker reported first-half underlying revenues and adjusted profits falling by low-single digits.

Deutsche Telekom fell 2.34% as the company said it would raise its buyback volume after the German state lender KfW announced a €2.7bn stake sale on Monday.

Maersk rose as the Danish shipping group raised full-year profit guidance on the back of strong container market demand and higher freight rates on disruptions in the Red Sea.

Tritax Eurobox shares were up as Brookfield Asset Management said it was considering a cash bid for the logistics fund which owns warehouses and distribution centres in the Benelux region and Germany.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com