Europe open: Stocks lower on weak US cues; Tesco bucks trend

European stocks slid in early trade, taking their cue from losses on Wall Street and a mostly-negative Asian session.

At 0910 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 2.2%, Germany’s DAX was off 1.9% and France’s CAC was 2.1% weaker.

“Sentiment is immensely negative over in Europe and it has filtered from Wall Street where the S&P 500 slipped below the 1900 and entered officially in a correction territory with respect to its all-time high,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade.

Investors were also digesting news of a series of bomb blasts and gun battles on the streets of Indonesian capital Jakarta.

The blasts occurred in a major shopping and business district near the United Nations offices.

It was not clear yet who caused the attack by President Joko Widodo condemned it as an “act of terror”.

In commodities, oil prices were mixed after Brent fell below $30 in Asian trade amid a global supply glut. West Texas Intermediate was up 0.4% to $30.61 while Brent crude was 0.4% lower at $30.19.

On Wednesday, the US Energy Information Administration said gasoline stockpiles rose by 8.4m barrels in the week to 8 January, which was significantly more than the 1.6m analysts had been expecting.

In corporate news, shares in French supermarket operator Casino fell sharply after it posted an 11% drop in fourth quarter revenue.

Alstom was in the red after the maker of TGV high-speed trains said nine-month orders fell 22%.

Norway’s biggest energy company, Statoil was also on the back foot after acquiring a stake in Swedish oil and gas company Lundin Petroleum, whose share rose.

On the upside, supermarket retailer Tesco surged after it reported an impressive like-for-like improvement over the Christmas period.

Luxury clothing retailer Burberry edged higher after it reported a 1% rise in underlying third quarter sales to £603m, with comparable sales unchanged year-on-year against a 4% drop in the previous quarter.

Still to come, investors will eye the release of the European Central Bank’s December meeting.

In the US, initial jobless claims are at 1330 GMT along with the import price index.

In the UK, eyes will be on the Bank of England rate announcement at 1200 GMT, although no change to interest rates is expected.