- Market attention is heavily-focused on the state of Brexit talks this week. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to head to Brussels this week in a last-ditch attempt to secure a Brexit trade deal.
- He will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after negotiators failed to make significant progress when talk resumed on Monday.
LONDON — European stocks were lower Tuesday morning as talks between the U.K. and EU continue to yield little progress, with time running out to agree on a deal.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was 0.2% lower in early deals, with most sectors in negative territory. London’s FTSE index was trading 0.3% lower.
Market attention is heavily-focused on the state of Brexit talks this week. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to head to Brussels this week in a last-ditch attempt to secure a Brexit trade deal. He will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after negotiators failed to make significant progress when talk resumed on Monday.
In other U.K. news, Britain is rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech on Tuesday, making it the first Western country to start a general coronavirus vaccination program.
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Tuesday as investors remained cautious over rising coronavirus cases, U.S. stimulus negotiations as well as the Brexit talks. U.S. stock futures are also lower as traders keep an eye on negotiations for additional fiscal stimulus, while the U.S. coronavirus caseload continues to rise.
Republican and Democratic leaders said Monday that Congress is trying to extend government funding for an additional week to try to strike a deal on new Covid-19 aid. The news came after a bipartisan group of senators unveiled a $908 billion stimulus proposal last week.
In individual stock news, Ashtead shares rose 3.6% after announcing that its yearly results will be better than expected. At the top of the Stoxx 600, Beijer Ref shares climbed 5.5% after a private equity group bought a stake in the Swedish wholesaler.
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– CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
