European shares dip as trade war fears weigh

European shares dip as trade war fears weigh
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, May 21, 2019. REUTERS/Staff Copyright STAFF(Reuters)
By Reuters
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(Reuters) - European shares edged lower on Wednesday as concerns over a protracted U.S.-China trade war again worried investors, while a drop in the pound propped up London's blue-chip index.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1% by 0708 GMT with Germany's DAX, traditionally sensitive to trade issues, down 0.2%.

A report that the United States is considering limits on Chinese video surveillance firm Hikvision added to the list of tensions between the two sides ahead of a summit later this month.

The STOXX 600 is down about 3% so far this month, on course for its first monthly decline this year as the tensions threaten to hurt global growth.

Auto shares slipped 0.4% and basic-resources stocks, among those first in the firing line, retreated 0.3%.

Britain's exporter-heavy FTSE 100, however, outperformed its peers and rose 0.4%, bolstered by Brexit-driven falls in the pound, which boost the foreign revenues of its internationally-focussed firms.

Marks & Spencer shares dropped more than 5% after the retailer reported its third straight decline in full-year profit, showing the pain of its latest attempt at a multi-year turnaround.

Shares of asset manager Intermediate Capital Group jumped to the top of STOXX 600 after posting full-year results.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)

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