European shares drop slightly on downbeat Chinese data

European shares dropped slightly by midday trading on Monday after disappointing Chinese report, where European shares had their first weekly slide in more than a month last week.

China’s factory production soared 6.9 percent last month, compared to 9 percent advance in July and median estimates of 8.8 percent growth.

In the U.K., still there are talks about the possible split of Scotland from the United Kingdom ahead of a Sep. 18 referendum.

Later in the week, eyed will focus on the two-day policy meeting as investors will wait for comments from Yellen regarding the timing of the first interest rate hike in eight years.

As of 06:33 EST, STOXX EUROPE 600 slipped 0.10% to record 343.94 points. Energy led the decline with a drop of 0.97%, where the largest losses were recorded by TDC A/S as its shares plummeted 7.65% to 42.84 DKK.

The largest gains, on the other hand, were led by SABMiller PLC as its equities rose 4.05% to 3543.50 GBP. 

Regarding other major European indices, France’s CAC 40 index retreated 0.24% to 4431.19 points, and FTSE 100 decreased 0.22% to 6792.16 points. Germany`s DAX 30 rose 0.15% to 9665.54 points.