Europe midday: Shares turn cautious ahead of Trump-Xi call

(Sharecast News) - European shares slipped into the red at midday on Friday as investors assessed rate moves in Japan, UK borrowing and retail sales data and awaited a call between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to discuss trade. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.10% to 554.48 at 1157 BST. The UK's FTSE 100 was flat. While Germany's DAX fell 0.19% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.24%.

"US stock futures are on the back foot in early trade, as investors have taken on a more cautious stance ahead of a highly anticipated call between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping," said Scopemarkets analyst Joshua Mahony.

"Trump has fuelled optimism by suggesting a TikTok deal is close to completion, and even speculated that wider trade discussions between the two largest economies were 'pretty close to a deal'. However, he also downplayed expectations for a breakthrough, noting the US may simply extend the current tariff truce, which he described as offering 'pretty good terms'."

"The desire to strike a deal appears to be evident in the fact that Trump has pre-empted the meeting by halting the $400m military aid package offered to Taiwan. Has the President thrown his Taiwanese allies under the bus in a bid to gain trade concessions with the Chinese?"

The Bank of Japan kept interest rates on hold Friday but said it would start offloading funds bought as part of its earlier monetary easing campaign. A separate data release showed inflation slowed to 2.7% in August from 3.1% the previous month.

In the UK, government borrowing rose by more than expected in August, piling more pressure on Finance Minister Rachel Reeves ahead of the autumn budget in November.

Public sector net borrowing rose to £18bn in August figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published on Friday showed. This was £3.5bn more than in August 2024 and also higher than the £12.5bn forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in March and consensus expectations of £12.8bn.

The news saw the pound dropped by half a cent to $1.35 for a third straight day of falls. Government bonds were also under pressure with the 10-year yield up 4 basis points to 4.7%.

Meanwhile, retail sales moved higher in August, according to official data published on Friday, boosted by the warm summer weather.

According to the Office for National Statistics, retail sales volumes rose 0.5% last month, following a downwardly-revised 0.5% increase in July. Analysts had been expecting a more modest 0.3% rise in August.

In equity news, shipping container companies Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd both fell on analysis indicating a sharp decline in container freight indices.

Kuehne+Nagel slid after Deutsche Bank cut its rating on the Swiss logistics group to 'hold' from 'buy'.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com