Europe open: Shares down on weak China GDP; Ocado, Burberry tank

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.44% to 521.74 in early deals after a string showing last week, with all major Continental bourses lower.

Data released earlier by China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that second-quarter growth slowed to 4.7% year-on-year from 5.3% in the first quarter, missing expectations of 5.1% growth.

ING said "weak consumption and property continued to be a drag on growth" and added that more policy support will be needed in order to achieve this year's 5% growth target.

House prices were 4.5% lower than last year in June, worsening from the 3.9% drop in May, registering the 12th consecutive decline and the steepest decrease since June 2015.

Annual retail sales growth slowed to 2.0% from 3.7%, missing the 3.3% estimate, reflecting continued weak domestic demand.

Meanwhile, industrial production growth eased to 5.3% year-on-year from 5.6%, while fixed asset investment growth slipped to 3.9% from 4.0%.

In equity news, shares in online grocer and tech company Ocado slumped as broker Bernstein downgraded the stock to 'underperform'.

British luxury group Burberry fell more than 11% after it ousted its CEO, issued a profit warning and scrapped its dividend, while Swatch was also down sharply as the Swiss watchmaker's first half sales and operating profit fell due to weak China demand.

BP was lower after a rating cut to 'equalweight' by Morgan Stanley.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com