Europe open: Stocks drift lower as Deutsche Bank declines

European stocks drifted lower in early trade amid weaker oil prices and as Deutsche Bank shares declined.

At 0900 BST, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.3%, while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were 0.1% lower.

“European markets are range bound in early trade and likely to stay that way with the US markets closed for Columbus Day,” said Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor. She added that two of the main drivers for stocks remain currencies and Deutsche Bank.

Oil prices retreated amid doubts that non-OPEC producers will cut production, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.8% at $49.40 a barrel and Brent crude off 0.7% at $51.57.

Meanwhile, the pound remained under pressure versus the dollar, down 0.4% at $1.2383.

In corporate news, Deutsche Bank was under the cosh as investors waited to hear news on the bank’s $14bn fine from the US Department of Justice. This weighed on the Stoxx 600 sub-index for banks, which fell 1%. Investors had been hopeful some good news would be announced as the German lender’s chief executive John Cryan attended the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s autumn meetings in Washington, raising hopes he might have been able to negotiate the fine.

EasyJet flew lower again after Societe Generale downgraded the stock to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ following the company’s profit warning last week.

German utility E.ON was in the red as it came under scrutiny again at the weekend for its Uniper spinoff.

On the upside, bookmaker William Hill rallied after confirming it was in merger talks with Toronto-listed Amaya Inc, owner of the PokerStars website, having rejected offers from smaller UK rivals in the summer.

Media conglomerate Vivendi was also firmer after French billionaire Vincent Bollore upped his stake in the company to over 20%.