European Shares Slide As China Approves $838bn Debt Swap

(RTTNews) - European stocks drifted lower on Friday as China's top legislative body - the National People's Congress (NPC) - approved the State Council's proposal to increase local government debt limit by $838 billion after a week-long session.

There was some disappointment as the hotly anticipated stimulus was not as broad or immediate as initially presumed.

The pan European STOXX 600 dropped 0.2 percent to 509.11 after rising 0.6 percent on Thursday.

The German DAX dipped 0.3 percent, France's CAC 40 shed half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.3 percent.

Eurozone bond yields dipped after a busy week of central bank meetings and amid the collapse of the German government.

Germany's opposition leader Friedrich Merz has accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz of seeking to delay an early election until March purely for party political advantage.

Merz not only rejected Scholz's approach and reiterated his demand for a January vote, given that Europe's biggest economy urgently needs additional measures to restore meaningful growth.

In corporate news, Vistry Group shares plummeted 16 percent. The British housebuilder announced today that it has revised down its expectations for annual adjusted profit before tax because of issues in its South Division, adjustments in other regions, and reduced expectations for completions.

Property portal Rightmove edged up slightly after releasing its first trading update since rejecting the final of four takeover offers by Australia's REA Group.

AstraZeneca rallied nearly 2 percent. It was said the Phase III WAYPOINT study of AstraZeneca and Amgen's Tezspire in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps met its both co-primary endpoints.

British Airways-owner IAG jumped almost 7 percent after reporting a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit.

Cartier owner Richemont tumbled 4 percent after posting a 20 percent drop in net profit for the first half of the year. French rivals LVMH, Kering and Hermes were down 2-3 percent.

German telecom service provider Freenet surged 6 percent after lifting its full-year outlook.