Investing.com - European stocks slid lower on Tuesday, after the release of disappointing German factory orders data added to fears over the strength of the euro zone's biggest economy.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 slid 0.36%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.28%, while Germany’s DAX 30 declined 0.58%.
Official data earlier showed that German factory orders declined by 1.8% in August, confounding expectations for a 0.5% gain. Factory orders dropped 2.2% in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.4% fall.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) rose 0.33% and 0.34%, while Germany's Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) slipped 0.04% and 0.22%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) gained 0.77% and 0.68% respectively, while Spanish bank Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) advanced 0.58%.
Elsewhere, Air France KLM SA (PARIS:AIRF) shares were down 0.52% after the company's managers fled a meeting on Monday about mass job cuts as angry staff waving banners and flags stormed the room.
Also on the downside, Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) plummeted 2.31% after the German carmaker admitted, in a letter to members of parliament, that 8 million vehicles were fitted with software capable of cheating diesel emissions tests in the European Union.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 slid 0.38%, weighed by losses in the mining sector.
Shares in Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) dropped 0.99% and Antofagasta (LONDON:ANTO) tumbled 1.77%, while Anglo American (LONDON:AAL) plummeted 1.85% and Glencore (LONDON:GLEN) dove 5.24%.
Glencore remained in the spotlight following reports on Monday it is in talks with a few parties including the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund to sell a stake in its agricultural business with the aim of cutting its debt load.
Financial stocks added to losses, as the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) slid 0.30% and Barclays (LONDON:BARC) declined 0.57%, while Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) retreated 0.98% and 1.09% respectively.
The U.K. government announced on Monday that it plans to sell at least £2 billion worth of Lloyds Banking shares to retail investors in spring 2016 with the intention of fully exiting its shareholding in the lender.
Meanwhile, SABMiller (LONDON:SAB) Plc lost 1.50% following reports management may fight an expected bid from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.30% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.31% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.46% decline.