European Shares Slip As Investors Await Powell Testimony, BoE Rate Decision

(RTTNews) - European shares traded lower in cautious trade on Monday, as China stimulus hopes faded and caution crept in ahead of China's June loan prime rate announcement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimonies due this week.

The Bank of England meets on Thursday and the central bank is expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point to a 15-year high of 4.75 percent, marking its 13th straight rate rise.

The pan European STOXX 600 was down 0.6 percent at 463.99 after gaining half a percent on Friday.

The German DAX, France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were down between 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent.

Sartorius plunged more than 15 percent. The Franco-German lab equipment maker slashed its 2023 view, saying it expects sales revenue for the second half of the year to be below expectations due to weak demand.

Coca-Cola HBC AG declined 1 percent on news it would acquire the Finlandia vodka brand from Brown-Forman for $220m.

China-exposed luxury giant LVMH fell 1.4 percent and Hermes International dropped 1.4 percent after Friday's State Council meeting in China ended with no concrete policies to boost the economy.

Likewise, miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore shed 1-2 percent on worries about demand from the top metal consumer.

MTU Aero Engines AG rallied 3.3 percent after lifting its 2023 earnings forecast.

Surface Transforms, a maker of carbon-ceramic brake discs for automotive and aircraft applications, fell 1.5 percent after it appointed Isabelle Maddock as new Chief Financial Officer, effective September 4.

Egham-headquartered Spectris was little changed after entering an agreement for the $37.6 million purchase of MicroStrain Sensing Systems Business.

Lucky Strike maker British American Tobacco rose half a percent after it revealed significant changes to its management board.

Drug maker AstraZeneca fell about 1 percent after reportedly announcing plans to spin-off its China business.