European shares flat as optimism from U.S.-Mexico trade deal wanes

By Julien Ponthus

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares were little changed on Wednesday as optimism triggered by a U.S. trade deal with Mexico ebbed, and uncertainty grew about a similar agreement with Canada and a solution to Washington's spat with Beijing.

At 0840 GMT, the STOXX 600 index was up 0.1 percent with most bourses and sectors broadly flat.

The United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to overhaul the NAFTA trade association, boosting risk appetite that looked to be waning on Wednesday.

Investors were turning their attentions to the U.S. GDP reading later in the day, said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.

 

Germany's RTL led gainers on the pan-European index, rising 7.4 percent after reporting forecast-beating growth in second quarter revenues and core earnings.

Shares in Spain's Inditex suffered most, losing 4.6 percent after Morgan Stanley rated the Zara owner "underweight" for the first time.

France's Ingenico was also under pressure, losing 3.9 percent. One trader cited competition between Amazon and the French company on mobile payments in Asia.

Micro Focus, the British software company, added 1.8 percent after it started a share buy-back program.

Pernod Ricard's fell 1 percent after results, with some analysts noting a disappointing guidance from the French spirits maker.

"We see Pernod as a core long-term staples holding, however current valuation makes it hard for us to put fresh money to work", wrote Jefferies analyst Edward Mundy who maintained his 'hold' rating.

Atlantia was down 0.8 percent after rejecting the idea of nationalizing its unit Autostrade per l'Italia after the collapse of a bridge in Genoa.

Among small caps, Sinclair Pharma jumped close to 25 percent after agreeing to an offer from China's Huadoing.

(Reporting by Julien Ponthus; editing by John Stonestreet)