European shares wipe gains over trade concerns

European shares wiped gains and ended lower for a fourth session running as sentiment worldwide took a hit after US president Donald Trump signalled delays to reaching a trade deal with China.

Dublin

Dublin’s main share index slipped 0.84 per cent on Tuesday on the back of the Trump prompted trade concerns.

Ryanair outperformed its European airline rivals after releasing traffic statistics in the morning. The airline said traffic grew 4 per cent in November with load factor coming in at 96 per cent. Ryanair dipped 0.91 per cent to €13.60 but Lufthansa, EasyJet and Air France-KLM posted more significant dips.

Bookmakers across the board were weak on the day with UK company William Hill falling significantly. Paddy Power-owner Flutter Entertainment dropped a more modest 0.96 per cent to €103 on its Dublin listing.

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Banks were also weak on the day although there was nothing specific that dragged them lower. AIB fell 2.46 per cent to €2.93 while Bank of Ireland slipped 2.34 per cent to €4.51.

On the other side of the board, Kingspan was amongst the stand out performers. The insulation maker posted a 1.7 per cent rise on the day, helping it close at €50.15, above the all important €50 level.

Origin Enterprises was also in the green, regaining some ground after falling almost 10 per cent in the past week. The agri-business closed at €3.85, up 3.92 per cent on decent volume.

London

London’s FTSE, packed with trade-sensitive mining and energy stocks, lost 1.8 per cent, the most in the region, as material shares lost 1.6 per cent.

Diversified miner Glencore was among steepest fallers on the main board, tumbling 4 per cent as investors were unimpressed by an update on the company’s priorities and expected output.

Asia-facing financial stocks, led by a 2.3 per cent drop in HSBC, and oil majors Shell and BP were among those hardest hit due to trade jitters.

The FTSE 100 is headed for its worst monthly performance since August despite being just days into the final month of the year.

In other moves, Cineworld lost 4 per cent after the cinema chain warned on its annual trading performance.

Europe

The World Trade Organization's rejection of EU claims that it did not provide subsidies to Airbus prompted the United States to say it could raise retaliatory tariffs on a wider range of European goods. Airbus shares fell 4.4 per cent.

Along with drops in luxury shares LVMH, Kering and Hermes, the Paris index slid 1 per cent.

Reversing session gains, the pan-European stocks index closed down 0.6 per cent, after logging its worst selloff since October 2nd on Monday.

German shares, meanwhile, ended up 0.2 per cent thanks to rallies in software firm SAP and MTU Aero Engines which rose after a BoFA Merrill Lynch upgrade to "buy".

Italy's blue-chip index finished marginally higher, supported by gains in Ferrari after a Goldman Sachs target price hike and utility Enel after it made a bid for Renvico wind farm portfolio in Italy and France.

Among other bright spots, telecom companies Ericsson and Nokia rose on a media report that said Washington is considering financial aid to countries that would source telecoms equipment from firms other than China's Huawei.

New York

Wall Street fell more than 1 per cent and the benchmark S&P 500 hit a near one-month low on Tuesday.

Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading lower, with tech heavyweights Apple and Microsoft weighing the most.

The S&P 500 is still up about 23 per cent this year, helped by interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Shares of Audentes Therapeutics more than doubled in value after Japan's Astellas Pharma said it would buy the US drugmaker for about $3 billion in cash.

– Additional reporting: Reuters