Europe open: Stocks in the red as Fed remains in focus

European stocks edged lower in early trade, taking their cue from downbeat US and Asian sessions.

At 0835 BST, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.3%, Germany’s DAX was 0.5% weaker and France’s CAC was off 0.4%.

At the same time, oil prices were in the red as the dollar gained some ground. West Texas Intermediate was down 0.6% to $47.78 a barrel and Brent crude was 0.8% lower at $47.96.

A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Markus Huber, a trader at City of London Markets, said negative sentiment was spilling over from Asia.

“Increasing uncertainty on the back of recent comments by some FOMC members where the timing of the next interest rate hike in the US is concerned is currently limiting the appetite for stocks,” he said.

“With many major indices getting close towards the lower end of their recent trading range, the overall technical picture could deteriorate substantially over the next few days should buyers fail to come back into the market.”

In corporate news, German speciality chemicals group Evonik was under the cosh after private equity firm CVC placed its shares at a discount.

DIY retailer Kingfisher was a high riser after reporting a solid start to the year, with 6.2% like-for-like growth in B&Q and Screwfix stores in the UK and Ireland contributing to 3.6% group growth to £2.7bn.

Utility company Severn Trent was also in the black as it cut its dividend but posted a rise full-year profit.

Old Mutual edged up after confirming that it has received approaches from third parties to acquire its 66% stake in OM Asset Management.

Earlier, Destatis confirmed that German gross domestic product grew at 0.7% in the first quarter compared with 0.3% in the final quarter of last year.

It said positive contributions came mainly from domestic demand, which helped to offset weaker trade.

Household final consumption expenditure increased by 1.8%, while government final consumption expenditure was up 2.7%. Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment rose a price-adjusted 2.4% on the first quarter of 2015.

Still to come, investors will eye the release of the German ZEW survey at 1000 BST.

“Whilst there is a slight uptick expected in the ZEW compared to the previous month which would be in line with other German data released recently, the impact on market action is likely to be short-lived as uncertainty regarding US interest rates is likely to remain the main driver for stocks for now,” said Huber.