Europe midday: Shares slide as US worries hit sentiment

(Sharecast News) - European shares slid into the red at midday on Monday as investors took a risk off approach ahead of the publication of US data delayed by the record federal government shutdown. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 fell 0.43% at 1202 GMT. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.21%, Germany's DAX slumped 0.67%, with France's CAC slipping into the red by 0.47%.

"At the start of a new week, the market mood has calmed. US stock futures are pointing to small gains later on Monday, after a sharp sell off on Friday, European stock index futures are mostly flat at the start of the week," said XTB research director Kathleen Brooks.

"The next few days could be key for long term direction of stocks and how they perform into year end. Later this week we will get long-awaited data releases from the US, which will be key to determining if the Fed cuts interest rates next month. We also get Nvidia's results on Wednesday, which could revitalize the AI/ big tech trade."

US inflation and jobs data for October was not collated or released, creating problems for policy makers as they assess potential rate cuts amid a weakening labour market.

In equity news, shares in SIG Group surged as the Swiss packaging giant appointed Mikko Keto as its new CEO.

Dassault Aviation took off after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a letter of intent had been signed to provide the besieged country with around 100 Rafale fighter jets.

WPP shares jumped on a report that France's Havas and private equity firms Apollo and KKR were mulling a takeover of the advertising firm ahead of its demotion from the FTSE 100.

Saab soared as the Swedish firm won orders from Airbus to supply its Arexis electronic warfare system for German Eurofighters.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com