The skyline of London’s financial district.
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LONDON — European stocks were lower on Tuesday, reversing positive sentiment seen at the start of the new trading month.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 1.1% at 8:25 a.m. (3:25 a.m.ET), with all sectors in negative territory. The U.K.’s FTSE index fell almost 0.7%, while Germany’s DAX lost 1.4%, France’s CAC 40 was down 1.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB dropped 1%.
The yield on the U.K.’s benchmark 10-year government bonds, also known as gilts, fell almost 4 basis points to reach 4.405% as Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said in a speech that the government would act on “hard choices” ahead of the Nov. 26 budget.
The British pound was last seen down 0.27% against the U.S. dollar at $1.31.
Meanwhile, Orsted gained almost 1% after the Danish renewables giant agreed to sell a 50% stake in its Hornsea 3 offshore windfarm in the U.K. to Apollo Global Management in a deal worth $6 billion.
In earnings news, BP‘s gained 0.7% in early trading after the oil and gas company reported an underlying replacement cost profit of $2.21 billion for the third quarter. The number — a measure of the London-listed company’s net profit — beat analyst expectations.
European stocks had opened the new trading week — and month — on a positive note ahead of a busy week of central bank decisions and earnings; on Tuesday, we’ll be getting third-quarter results from Philips, Geberit, Associated British Foods and Ferrari.
Releasing its latest earnings earlier, Saudi Aramco posted a 0.9% jump in third-quarter profit on the back of higher production, even as prices remained under pressure.
Taking a look at global markets, Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed overnight and U.S. stock futures were slightly lower. That comes after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both closed higher yesterday on the back of continued enthusiasm around the artificial intelligence trade.
Stocks tied to the biggest AI players drove Monday’s gains, with Amazon inking a $38 billion deal with OpenAI that took the e-commerce giant to a record closing high, ending the day 4% higher.